John Passmore Edwards

Hayle Institute

History

	The building is sombre and dignified, the front finished in rock-faced granite, with close chiselled dressings, and the sides are of elvan filling with granite dressings. The windows on all sides are large and uncluttered, classical and expansive in style, contrasting with the formidable Norman Arch porch with its heavily panelled outer doors and the granite balcony above. The leaded coloured glass panels in the top third of the outer doors, and those in the oak framed arch above, let in a warm,
comforting light, though their simple geometric designs are decoration only. The circular pattern of glass and lead above the door is reminiscent of a dart board, an ironic prediction of the predominately leisure use of the building in the future.
The interior is much lighter and brighter than the outside, even on a winters day. There is much use of genuinly rich brown timber for the staircase and panelling up the stairs, set off by plain, plaster walls painted a pale colour. Description of the Institute taken from "The Hayle Institute" by Patricia Adams, 1996.
The Hayle Institute was started in 1893 to provide training for local men when Hayle was suffering from a decline in the mining industry, a decline from which Hayle has yet to recover.
Passmore Edwards had been a frequent visitor to Hayle, visit his brother James and his parents who had moved to Phillack, up until the early 1860's. Whilst undertaking these home visits he had given lectures nearby, perhaps to fund the visit, and was well awre of the lack of educational and leisure opportunities that existed.
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July 6, 2007