Heamoor

Heamoor (formerly Hea) is a village in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Formerly a secondary settlement of the village of Madron, Heamoor now forms a substantial part of the residential population of Penzance and is considered by many to now be a suburb of that town.

History

Heamoor saw initial growth in the 19th Century due to its proximity to a major crossroads and the need of farms for agricultural labour. The village originally consisted of two areas - the Hea which is the southern part of the village where the main road enters from Penzance and then to the east of this towards St Thomas' Church. The moor occupies the area at the opposite end of the village and could be seen as the poorly drained area now occupied by the playing fields of Mount's Bay School and the housing estate nearby. The reason for the moor was the poor drainage which in turn was due to the outcrop of a Felsite dyke (also called Elvan) that can be seen forming the ridge where Poltair woods abuts onto the road leading from Heamoor to Trengwainton. This felsite channels water onto the ground below it giving rise to the swampy conditions. Further along the same road are a pair of reservoirs that form the former main supply of the nearby town of Penzance, the water for these reservoirs comes from this dyke, the main water supply for the town being Drift Reservoir. Following World War II Heamoor was indentified by the then Penzance Borough Council as area of potential development for housing, during the 1970's and 1980's this was realised with the building of a number of large modern housing developments.

Amenities

Heamoor has a number of shops, The Sportsman's Arms pub, The British Legion and Scout group as well as several community facilities. Heamoor is also home to the Heamoor Community Primary School, which is now located to the west of the main village in Boscathnoe Parc, and Mounts Bay School and Community Sports College (formerly Heamoor Secondary modern school ), one of Penzance's comprehensive schools.

Local government

Heamoor falls within the civil parish of Penzance and forms a single ward on the Penzance Town Council. The principal local authorities in this area are Penwith District Council and Cornwall County Council. For the purposes of election to these authorities Heamoor is part of the Heamoor and Gulval District Council Ward and Penzance County Council Electoral Division.

Churches

Not unusual for similar Cornish communities of its age Heamoor had until the mid 20th century 3 centres of Christian Worship, Wesley Rock Wesleyan Chapel, a Bible Christian Chapel, and a Church of England Church (St Thomas). Wesley Rock Methodist Church is so called because of the frequent visits by John Wesley to the area where he is said to have preached from a rock in a field. The 'Rock' in question now forms the base of pulpit in Wesley Rock Church itself and has been moved once on the completion of the building that now forms the Church, being previously held in the older adjacent building.

The St Thomas's was built in Heamoor in the late 19th century as a Chapel of ease to serve those living in the outskirts of Penzance. The Church of St Thomas's is part of Madron parish and was dedicated in 1892. This Church was licenced for weddings in 1975Fact|date=February 2007

As a hang over from when Heamoor was closely linked to Madron, Heamoor religious communities also celebrate Madron feast. Pictures of the methodist chapels in Heamoor [http://www.hattam.co.uk/gallery/Heamoor] .

See also

*Gulval
*Madron
*Treneere