From
earliest times, the short overland passage between Hay=
le
and Marazion with its safe anchorages at either=
end
offered an attractive alternative for seafarers wishing to avoid the
inhospitable coastline of the Lands End peninsula. Th=
us, Hayle - derived from the Cornish =
word 'heyl'=
meaning estuary - became
important as a stop-off point and thereby trading post on a Prehistoric
sea-route from the Mediterranean and as a point of entry into Cornwall
for travellers from Ireland
and Wales.
The first Christian missionaries to Cornwall
are believed to have come ashore here in the early part of the 5th. century. During the 19th. <=
span
class=3DGramE>century boilers and steam engines were manufactured he=
re to
meet the needs of Cornwalls booming mining industry. Today Hayle
is particularly noted for its 'miles of golden sands' and for its estuary
marshland that supports a wide variety of migrant wading birds..
=