The Early Days Redruth was formerly the capital of the largest and richest metal mining area in Britain. The town's setting is dominated by the granite heights of Carn Brea and Carn Marth.
Granite is an igneous rock formed from molten material generated at great depth below the surface.
Vapours from the granite carried minerals into the rock's fissures before it finally set. In later ages the granite was lifted by earth movements, and exposed to weathering. On Carn Brea can be seen the remains of one of the oldest and largest human settlements in Cornwall, a 46-acre Neolithic hillfort. Minerals were probably worked here since the Bronze Age, and by the Middle Ages mining was well established. Tin was obtained from deposits in the flats of streams, the ore found in material produced by the weathering of veins in the granite.