Whether you’re coming to St Austell for a holiday or on business, SITU has apartments to suit, as well as city apartments and aparthotel options in many locations throughout the UK and beyond.
St Austell is a major Cornish town close to the county’s south coast. It lies on the A390, one of the main routes through the region. The town has a population of just under 20,000, making it among the larger towns in Cornwall and, like many settlements across the region, was once an important mining town. From the 18th century onwards, it was china clay that defined St Austell’s economy, something which left a distinctive mark across the landscape in the form of huge conical mounds of pit ‘spoils’. These give the area a distinctive and surreal feel and are sometimes referred to as the ‘Cornish Alps’.
The town’s other main industry for many years revolved around the St Austell Brewery, Cornwall’s biggest brewery that today still has ownership over a number of pubs. If it’s something you might be interested in, the brewery is open for public tours. But perhaps the biggest part of the economy in St Austell nowadays, as with much of Cornwall, is tourism. A massive boon to this came in 2001 with the opening of the Eden Project. This environmentally conscious attraction took a reclaimed china clay pit and created a natural wonderland that includes two huge biomes – one a tropical rainforest biome and the other a Mediterranean environment. The Eden project is located just three miles from St Austell.
Another popular local attraction is the Wheal Martyn Museum and Country Park, the UK’s only china clay museum, which is surrounded by woodland walks and clay cycle trails. The Lost Gardens of Halligan – now very much found again – lie less than four miles roughly southwest of St Austell. These mysterious gardens were rediscovered 25 years ago after being lost for decades and have a history going back hundreds of years. They are among the most popular botanical gardens in the UK and there is something about them that is indelibly entwined with the romantic view of this part of Cornwall.
Many people coming to St Austell accommodation are often on a short stay visiting the coast. Carlyon Bay, about two miles away, has over two miles of sandy beach, and there is also the little harbour town of Charlestown, a charming and amazingly well-preserved example of a late Georgian port once exported copper and china clay. Charlestown also has a Shipwreck and Heritage Centre that may well be worth a visit if you are there.
Although those coming to stay in St Austell will find a range of shops, large supermarkets, out of town retail parks and more, some of Cornwall’s best shopping is about 12 miles down the road in Truro, a beautiful little cathedral city that can be well worth a day trip. In St Austell itself, a night out could involve the town’s state-of-the-art four-screen cinema, or perhaps the bowling alley.
The town’s train station is on the Cornwall mainline, running CrossCountry and GWR services. Along with the A390 route, this makes an Austell an easy place to get to in a county that could quite often seem remote., and National Express services stop there. The nearest airport is in Newquay, about a 30-minute drive, which runs flights throughout the UK and to some European destinations.
Whether you’re coming to St Austell for a holiday or on business, Situ has apartments to suit, as well as city apartments and aparthotel options in many locations throughout the UK and beyond.
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