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The History of the Old Pressing Yard
The Old Pressing Yard houses, as the name suggests, are built on the site of a Pilchard Pressing Yard. The house and yard still retain the atmosphere and traces of the ancient Pilchard industry of St Ives. In Victorian times, the Pilchard was regarded as a "poor peoples'" fish and nearly all the catch was exported to Italy.
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The Old Pressing Yard in the 1980s |
Since the 15th Century, St Ives was heavily involved in the catching and processing of Pilchards. Fish curing cellars and pressing yards almost equaled in number, the dwelling houses in St Ives. The fish pressing yards were often built right on the water's edge. The industry lasted for 400 years until the 1920s when overfishing made the teaming shoals of Pilchards a distant memory. In December 1920, two million fish were landed in one day. Pilchards are still caught on the coast, but never seen in such numbers. After being brought to the pressing yard, the Pilchards were washed and laid out row upon row, with much salt, for a few months in a process known as bulking. The Plichards were then washed again, before packed into barrels called Hogsheads. |
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The barrels were placed against the cellar walls on wooden gutter boards. A wooden top called a buckler was positioned on top of the fish in the barrel and a steady pressure applied downwards through the buckler from a pressing pole. As you can see in the diagram the pressing pole was lodged under the corbelled edge of the pressing yard wall and weighted with a pressing stone. If you look at the walls of the car park behind the Old Pressing Yard houses, you can see the corbelled edge to the wall. Around St Ives, you can still see pressing stones lurking in gardens and walls. This method of pressing was used until the 1900s, when it was replaced with a screw press. An old Cornish myth says that when the Pressing Stones start to move of their own accord in the Pressing Yard, it means that a good Pilchard catch is imminent! |
Diagram of Pilchard Pressing using a Pressing Pole and Stone |
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A Pilchard Pressing Stone |
The Corbelled Wall of the Old Pressing Yard |
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Pilchard or Cornish Sardine (Sardina Pilchardus) |
The Pilchard (Sardinus Pilchardus). The Pilchard or Sardinus Pilchardus is closely related to the Herring. It is found in European seas such as the English Channel and the Mediterranean. The fish is only called a Pilchard when it is an adult. The young fish (up to one year) are called sardines. The Pilchard lives in schools and can live to 60 meters deep. Pilchards feed on Plankton and other small sea animals. Pilchards can still be found in the local fish shops, however they have been rebranded as Cornish Sardines. |
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The only remaining Fish Cellars in St Ives can be found just along the beach from the Old Pressing Yard, below the Porthmeor Studios. The cellars are still in use by local fisherman, however they are currently threatened with redevelopment of the studios. They can be seen by squinting through the back windows of St Ives School of Painting. The Old Pressing Yard could have looked very similar to these buildings when it was in its heyday. |
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