The heart of St. Austell has to be its fine Perpendicular-style parish church, built of the much-used, mellow, elvan stone quarried at Pentewan.  The church was consecrated by Bishop Bronescombe, Bishop of Exeter, on 9^th October, 1259, but records confirm that a church existed on the site in 1169.  The oldest part of the present building is St. Michael’s Chapel at its south-east corner.  The Nave and the 94ft high Somerset-type tower were built in the 15^th century.  The outside of the church is richly adorned with figures carved in Pentewan stone, perpetuating the theme of the Holy Trinity on the tower.  Shields along the south wall portray the story of the Passion and describe the Ascension. 

Above the arched doorway leading into the south aisle is a carving of a pelican – a symbol of piety – with outstretched wings, feeding her brood with blood from her breast.

Of the monuments within the church, those to the Sawle family of Penrice, who were great benefactors to St. Austell, are the most numerous.  The latest one relates to Richard Charles Graves-Sawle, a Lieutenant in the Coldstream Regiment of  Foot Guards, who was killed at the battle of Ypres on 2^nd November, 1914.  His death ended the male line of his branch of the Sawle family.

At Menacuddle Holy Well, approximately three-quarters of a mile to the north-west of the Parish Church, his death is also recorded on a tablet affixed to the Well Chapel, or Baptistry, by his father, Rear Admiral Sir Charles John
Graves-Sawle, in 1921, when he gave the building and its surroundings to the
church-wardens for the enjoyment of the local inhabitants.

Some of St. Austell’s most impressive buildings are in the vicinity of the parish church.  The Queen’s Head is one of the oldest buildings in the town, dating from the 17^th century when it was an ale house.   The White Hart Hotel, which faces the south side of the church, is an elegant Georgian house, built as a private residence for Charles Rashleigh who founded the port of Charlestown between 1791 and 1801 to export tin, copper ore and china clay.   Rare wallpaper depicting “the Bay of Naples”, with which Rashleigh had decorated the walls of his dining room at the end of the 18^th century, was removed some years later to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

St. Austell’s “new” Market House, designed by Cope & Eales of London, and built by Olver & Son of Falmouth, opened in 1844.  It replaced an earlier market house, believed to have been situated nearer to the west door of the church.  This Grade II* listed building has two floors, and, at one time, it incorporated the Town Hall and a fire station.  Granite piers support a vaulted ceiling over the main entrance hall and stone stairs lead from a secondary front entrance to what was once the Town Hall, later to become a picture house.  From the ground floor market hall, occupied by butchers’ stalls in the early days, two stone stairways lead to a gallery landing on the first-floor, beyond which is a further stone-paved area at present accommodating shop units.  The most impressive feature of the market house has to be its timbered roof construction.  Trusses of yellow pine and beams, in an intricate web, span the full width of the building. 

Public meetings and exhibitions were held in the market house and both  William Gladstone and Winston Churchill have addressed St. Austell residents from the landing.

The Red Bank (St. Austell Bank), built for Coode, Shilson & Co., at the end of Church Street and facing the Bull Ring, ranks as one of St. Austell’s most impressive buildings – not only in its design, but also in its striking colour.  Erected in 1898, it was designed by a Luxulyan-born architect, Silvanus Trevail so that a gable end faced each of the roads which approached it.  The red bricks used in the building were made at Ruabon in North Wales. 

Silvanus Trevail was a prolific architect, designing many schools, chapels and public buildings.  His style featured steeply-pitched roofs and large windows.  Another of his impressive buildings within the town is the former Liberal Club at the west end of Fore Street.   This building, opened in 1890, was designed for Francis Leyland Barrett, J.P., who was made a Baronet in 1908 and who was M.P. for St. Austell from 1915 until 1918.

Tregonissey House, as it is known today, which is a few yards to the north of the church, was originally the “steam brewery” built by Walter Hicks in 1869 on the site of the old London Inn.

Approximately one and a half miles to the east of St. Austell, the menhir (standing stone) known as the Gwallon Longstone stands in the grounds of Penrice Community College.  Recorded in 1740 as being 13 feet in height, it is one of the best-preserved longstones in the county.

St. Austell Church Tower and  the expanse of  Blackpool Clay Works silhouetted  against the setting sun