Visiting Redruth for the First Time: What to Know

Short answer: Redruth is a working mining town, not a postcard, and that's the appeal: the restored Buttermarket food hall, Kresen Kernow, engine houses and Carn Brea, some of Cornwall's best pasties, and Portreath and Porthtowan beaches about four miles north. It's on the main railway line, and New Cut is the town-centre car park that still takes cash.

Redruth was at the heart of what was once one of the richest mining districts in the world, and it still looks the part: granite chapels, a long sloping Fore Street, engine houses on the skyline. For years visitors drove past on the A30. That's changing, because the town now has reasons to stop.

What is Redruth known for?

• Mining. Redruth sits in the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2006. The engine houses, trails and the monument on Carn Brea are all part of it.
• Gas lighting. In 1794, Murdoch House on Cross Street became the first house in the world lit by piped gas, thanks to the engineer William Murdoch, who lived there.
• Pasties. Small Redruth bakeries regularly get called the best in Cornwall by people who've tried them all.
• The Buttermarket. The old market buildings reopened in 2024 after a £4m restoration as a food hall and bar.

Where should I start?

Park, walk down Fore Street to the Buttermarket on Station Hill for coffee or lunch, then up to Kresen Kernow, Cornwall's archive in the old brewery, for a free exhibition. In the afternoon, drive five minutes to Carn Brea for the view, or to Wheal Peevor for three engine houses you can look inside. Full guides: the Buttermarket · mining walks around Redruth.

Where to eat

Pasties from Brays & K's or Berryman's, fish and chips at Greg & Lou's, street food at the Buttermarket, and a Sunday roast at the Treleigh Arms.

Where to park in Redruth

Council car parks charge 9am to 4pm and are free 4pm to 9am. New Cut (TR15 1AF, 3 hours max) is the only town car park still taking cash since most Cornwall Council car parks went cashless on 1 August 2026. Full prices: Redruth parking guide.

Getting to Redruth without a car

Redruth is on the main line, with roughly two trains an hour towards Penzance and towards Plymouth, plus the Night Riviera sleeper to London. The station is step-free and a few minutes' walk from the Buttermarket.

Is there a beach near Redruth?

Two good ones about four miles north: Portreath, with a tidal pool and parking by the sand, and Porthtowan, a surf beach with free parking from November to March. Both are on the Redruth guide.

Worth knowing

• The town market is the first Saturday of each month, April to December: Redruth Town Market.
• Redruth in Lights, the Christmas switch-on, is Saturday 5 December 2026: Redruth in Lights 2026.
• Heartlands at Pool is closed while the National Trust takes it over; no reopening date has been announced.

Times, prices and dates are the organisers' and businesses' to change — check before you travel. Spotted something we've got wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.

Five miles north: St Agnes: what to know.