The Loe

Coordinates: 50°04′35″N 5°17′22″W / 50.07639°N 5.28944°W / 50.07639; -5.28944
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Loe
Primary inflows
River Cober
Primary outflowsMine adit
Infiltration
Basin countriesUnited Kingdom
Max. length2 km (1.2 mi)
Max. width0.8 km (0.50 mi)
Surface area50 ha (120 acres)
Max. depth6 m (20 ft)
Surface elevation0 m (0 ft)
IslandsNone
SettlementsHelston

The Loe (

Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty[5] and is considered a classic Geological Conservation Review Site.[6] The South West Coast Path, which follows the coast of south-west England from Somerset to Dorset passes over Loe Bar.[7]

Formation of Loe Bar

The Loe was originally the estuary of the

serpentine 0.5%.[11]

The bar has increased significantly in historic times.

lake ecology.[16]

his tour around Great Britain writes that the River Cober 'makes a tolerable good harbour and several ships are loaded with tin', although over one hundred years before Defoe, Richard Carew (1602) described Loe Bar as "The shingle was relatively porous and fresh water could leave and seawater enter depending, on the relative heights of the pool and sea"[17][18] Defoe, writing in the early 18th century, appears to state that ships were then able to trade up the Cober to Helston; this would seem to be the origin of other documentary sources claiming a port for the town in the historic period.[19] There is no known archaeological evidence for the existence of a port at Helston* and there is no primary evidence to support Defoe's account.[19]

To prevent flooding in parts of Helston, the Bar has occasionally been breached, a practice known locally as "cutting", with the last occurring in 1984.[20] The Bar has always resealed itself.[21]

The 2013 investigations by the Camborne School of Mines project team,[22] show a chart of a cross-section of part of the valley between Loe Bar and Helston as being built up from a depth of twenty-five feet of silt, upon a belt seven feet deep of sea sand, above layers of peat from the remains of vegetation or of the ancient forest, that once covered Mount's Bay.[23]

Historical records

  • 13th century: The townspeople of Helston buy the rights to the port of Gweek at the head of the Helford River.[21]
  • 1272 and 1302:
    King Edward I granted certain lands in or near Helston to William de Treville on condition that he should, at his own expense, bring a boat and fishing-hook and net for the King's use on the Loe, as often as he should visit the Borough.[24]
  • 1281: The first documentation of the name Penrose; John de Penrose.[21]
  • 1534–43: Visits by John Leland. First to mention "... the casting up of sands that made a bar stopping the River Cober from flowing out to Sea".[25]
  • 1602: Richard Carew. "The shingle was relatively porous and fresh water could leave and seawater enter depending, on the relative heights of the pool and sea".[26]
  • 1771: Penrose bought by the Rogers family for £11,000.[21]
  • 1780: Adit constructed to prevent back-flooding of the Castle Wary silver and lead mine, also known as Wheal Pool.[11]
  • 1796: Wreck of an unidentified troopship with over 600 drowned (possibly one of Admiral Christian's West Indies convoy)
  • 1807: Over one hundred people were drowned when the Captain of HMS Anson, beached the 44-gun frigate on the Bar when caught in storm on her way to the Brest blockade. A memorial cross to the dead can be seen on the coastal slope near Carminowe Creek. A consequence of this disaster was the development of the rocket life-saving apparatus by Henry Trengrouse who witnessed the wreck, and an Act of Parliament for the Christian burial for those lost at sea.[21]
  • 1837: Report on the possibility of creating a harbour by the civil-engineer James Rendle. The estimated cost of £118,523 was considered too expensive to take the project further.[21][27]
  • circa 1850: Tin waste from the mines at Porkellis Moor begin to block the inner face of the Bar reducing the porosity.[28]
  • 1865: Breach of the Bar.[29]
  • 1874: The last known occurrence of manual cutting.[11]
  • 1881: The pool was frozen from end to end and youngsters skated on the ice.[30]
  • 1889: Enlargement of the 1780 adit which regulated outflow.[11]
  • 1924: Freak wave caused flooding in Helston.[11]
  • 1938: Mining activity ceased up river.[11]
  • circa 1940: Loe Bar mined and timber baulks or booms moored on the surface of the Loe to prevent seaplanes landing. A pillbox was built near Bar Lodge.[21] By 2010 erosion had caused the pillbox to fall onto the beach.
  • 1974: Ownership of the Penrose Estate (apart from the house) is transferred to the
    National Trust.[21]
  • 1979: First time a channel is cut by JCB.[31]
  • 1984: Heavy rains in October and November lead to the last cutting of the 20th century.[11]
  • 2018: 3 6-tonne pumps set up on Loe Bar to prevent flooding in Helston [32]

Mining

The extraction of metals in the Cober valley was carried out for centuries with silver and lead being mined at Wheal Pool (also known as Castle Wary mine) in 1780. In the mid-19th century tin-waste (leavings) from mines on Porkellis Moor was reducing the porosity of the bar. From Trenear to the Loe tinners, were able to work-up (i.e. extract) the waste, as recorded in October 1880, following heavy rain the week before.[33] Twenty-two tons of black tin was sold that year from the Loe Pool stream for £759, although the owner Samuel Stephens later sold some of his machinery as sales were not as expected.[34] The auction took place on Wednesday, 6 September 1882 at the Loe Pool Steam Works of ″Materials And Other Effects Thereof″. Included was a 14 feet (4.3 m) x 5 feet (1.5 m) water wheel, two large pulverizer's (under patent to Mr Stephens), wooden buildings, timber and launders (raised, wooden leats).[35]

Mining activity ceased in the Cober valley in 1938.

Site of Special Scientific Interest

Loe Bar

The beach from Porthleven to Gunwalloe is important for coastal geomorphology as it is formed by a barrier beach moving onshore during the Holocene and maintained by a predominantly south-west wave regime. During storms the Bar can be overrun by the sea forming a series of washover fans resulting in, annual laminated sediments, which are unique in Great Britain. The habitat is unique in Cornwall with rare species of plants,

bryophytes, algae and insects. It is also an important overwintering site for nearly eighty species of birds and up to 1,200 wildfowl. At the last assessment on 8 September 2010 the lake was found to be unfavourable condition, with no change from the previous assessment. The reasons being inappropriate water levels and water pollution, due to agriculture run off and discharge from the sewage treatment works below Helston.[36]

Flora

The pool provides a scarce habitat in Cornwall with rare species of algae, bryophytes and flowering plants. Aquatic plants include amphibious bistort (

stonewort (Nitella hyalina) was first discovered in Britain at Penrose Creek by Canon G R Bullock-Webster.[38] The last record was in 1914.[39]

An area on the east side of Loe Pool has been cleared for the re-introduction of strapwort (

Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust (WWCT), and in May 2015 over 1,000 seedlings were planted on the east side of Loe Pool.[41][42]

Fauna

Loe Bar is the only site in

Elymus farctus), from September to early-July. The moths fly from late-July to September. Four sub-species of the sandhill rustic occur in the British Isles.[43][44]

Porcellio dilatatus is an uncommon species of woodlouse with scattered records from most of the British Isles. Loe Pool is the only Cornish site. Also found on each of the inhabited islands of the Isles of Scilly.[45]

Folklore

The Loe is reputed to be the lake in which Sir Bedivere cast King Arthur's sword, Excalibur,[21] Dozmary Pool on Bodmin Moor shares this legend which is comparatively recent, Tennyson choosing Loe Pool in his Idylls of the King.[46]

A local legend states that the giant

Tregeagle was doomed to remove the sand from Gunwalloe to Porthleven, from which the sea would return it. In the course of one of his journeys he is said to have dropped a bag of sand at the entrance of Helston harbour and so to have formed the Bar.[21][24] Local superstition also warns that the Loe claims a victim every seven years, a legend shared with other waters such as the River Dart.[21][46]

See also

References

  1. Padel, O. J.
    Cornish Place Names, p. 122.
  2. ^ Toy's History of Helston, pp. 384 - 394.
  3. ^ National Trust. Penrose Estate: Gunwalloe and Loe Pool. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  4. ^ Natural England. SSSI units for Loe Pool. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  5. ^ Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. http://www.cornwall-aonb.gov.uk/
  6. ^ a b c May, V.J. Loe Bar. In May, V.J. and Hansom, J.D. (2003) Coastal Geomorphology of Great Britain, Geological Conservation Review Series, No. 28, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Peterborough, 754 pp.
  7. ISBN 978-031924-117-2
    .
  8. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ISBN 1-899526-01-3
    .
  10. ^ "JNCC - Adviser to Government on Nature Conservation" (PDF).
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Murphy, R.J., (1986). A Study of Loe Bar. In Cornish Studies 14:23–33.
  12. ^ Leland, John (1745). Itinerary. Vol. iii (2nd ed.). pp. 11–12.
  13. JSTOR 1786663
    .
  14. ^ Toy 1934, p. 46.
  15. ^ Coard, Martin Andrew (1987). Paleolimnological study of the history of Loe Pool. Helston, and its catchment (PDF). Ph.D. Thesis. Dept of Environmental Studies, Plymouth Polytechnic. p. 169. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  16. ^ Coard 1987, p. 177.
  17. ISBN 0-300-04980-3
    .
  18. ^ Martin, B (c. 1770). The Natural History of Cornwall and Devonshire.
  19. ^ a b Russell, Stephanie. "Historic characterisation for regeneration - Helston" (PDF). Cornwall & Scilly Urban Survey. Cornwall Archaeological Unit. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  20. ^ Davies, David. "Loe Bar: A Geomorphological Analysis". Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Le. Messurier, B. and Luck, L. (1998) Loe Pool and Mount's Bay. No. 12 in The National Trust Coast of Cornwall series of leaflets.
  22. ^ Peter Nicholls. "Could Helston have historically been a port settlement? : An analysis of available evidence and LiDAR remote sensing data cross referenced with a survey of the lower Cober/Loe valley" (PDF). Loepoolforum.files.wordpress.com. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  23. ^ DVD on 'Could Helston have been a port?'
  24. ^ a b Toy, H. S. (1936) The History of Helston. Oxford University Press
  25. ^ Chope, R. P. (Ed.) (1918). Early Tours in Devon and Cornwall. Itinerary of John Leland (1534–43), pp. 30–1, cited in Murphy, R. J. (1986). A Study of Loe Bar. In Cornish Studies 14:23–33.
  26. ^ Martin, B. (c. 1770). The Natural History of Cornwall and Devonshire.
  27. ^ Rendle, J. M. (1837). Report on the practicability of forming a Harbour at the mouth of Loe Pool, in Mount's Bay, near Helston in the County of Cornwall. Plymouth: J. B. Rowe, cited in Murphy, R. J. (1986). A Study of Loe Bar. In Cornish Studies 14:23–33.
  28. ^ Esquiros, A. (1865). Cornwall and its Coasts. Chapman and Hall, cited in Murphy, R. J. (1986). A Study of Loe Bar. In Cornish Studies 14:23–33.
  29. ^ Chapman, V. J. (1964). Coastal Vegetation. Pergamon Press, cited in Murphy, R. J. (1986). A Study of Loe Bar. In Cornish Studies 14:23–33.
  30. ^ "The Loe Pool". The Cornishman. No. 133. 27 January 1881. p. 8.
  31. ^ West Briton, 22 Feb 1979, cited in Murphy, R. J. (1986). A Study of Loe Bar. In Cornish Studies 14:23–33.
  32. ^ Vergnault, Olivier (26 January 2018). "Huge water pumping operation underway to protect homes from flooding". cornwalllive. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  33. ^ "Helston". The Cornishman. No. 118. 14 October 1880. p. 5.
  34. ^ "Professor Hunt's Statistics". The Cornishman. No. 168. 29 September 1881. p. 5.
  35. ^ "Loe Pool Stream Works. (Advertisement)". The Cornishman. No. 215. p. 1.
  36. ^ "Diversity of lake life is harmed by water pollution". West Briton. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  37. ^ a b Natural England. Loe Pool SSSI Designation Archived 10 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  38. ^ a b Hamilton Davy, Frederick (1909). Flora of Cornwall. Penryn: F Chegwidden.
  39. ^ Moore, J A; Greene, D M (1983). Provisional Atlas and Catalogue of British Museum (Natural History) specimens of the Characeae. Abbots Ripton: Institute of Terrestrial Ecology.
  40. ISBN 978-1901685-01-5
    .
  41. ^ Graeme (26 March 2015). "Bid to save extremely rare plant strapwort at Loe Pool Helston by National Trust". West Briton. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  42. ^ "Strapwort comes home to Loe Pool". Lizard and Penrose NT Blog. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  43. ISBN 0-906802-07-5
    .
  44. ISBN 0-9531399-1-3
    .
  45. ^ Gainey, P.A., Neil, C.J. and Turk, S.M. (2009) Freshwater and Terrestrial Crustacea. In CISFBR, Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition. Praze-an-Beeble: Croceago Press.
  46. ^
    ISBN 1-85058-317-X
    .

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