THE VILLAGE OF HALSETOWN

James Halse M.P. built Halsetown, a village two miles to the west of St Ives, in the early 1830s. The eighty or so cottages of granite, along with the Halsetown Inn, were laid out on a garden city plan. They were built by Halse to accommodate his growing workforce of miners. Each house had its own very small plot of land, not enough for growing market garden produce, but enough to encourage the residents to vote for him, as he wished to be the only Member of Parliament returned for the Borough of St Ives, which then consisted of St Ives, Towednack and Lelant. The village was completed in good time for polling day – 11th December 1832.

The mining industry certainly gave Halsetown such an increase in population that by 1840 a little private school was opened there together with a house for the master, all provided by James Halse. Also around this time Wesleyan and Bible Christian Chapels were built. As the little village developed so did entertainments. Halsetown Fair was first held on 11th September 1832, when there was ‘a good sale of horses and cattle’. In later years this annual fair became a pleasure fair.

In 1846 Halsetown became a separate parish and was added to the Parishes of Lelant, Towednack and St Ives; these forming the United Borough. In 1847 a temporary chapel was built in the upper village. The new parish of St John’s-in-the-Fields was built on a site in Hellesvean about one mile from the village in 1860.

A famous resident of Halsetown was Johnny Broadribb (Brodribb), who became the famous actor-manager Sir Henry Irving.

Today Halsetown still lies within the St Ives Conservation area so that the little village remains very much as originally built. Obviously the granite cottages have been modernized inside, but external appearances remain very much the same as when the village was built nearly 175 years ago. In 1876 the population of Halsetown is recorded as 1,810 persons, whilst today a mere 154 names appear on the electoral register.