HELSTON

helston, a market town and municipal borough in the truro parliamentary division of cornwall, england, 11 m. by road w.s.w. of falmouth, on a branch of the great western railway. pop. (1901) 3088. it is pleasantly situated on rising ground above the small river cober, which, a little below the town, expands into a picturesque estuary called looe pool, the water being banked up by the formation of looe bar at the mouth. formerly, when floods resulted from this obstruction, the townsfolk of helston acquired the right of clearing a passage through it by presenting leathern purses containing three halfpence to the lord of the manor. the mining industry on which the town formerly depended is extinct, but the district is agricultural and dairy farming is carried on, while the town has flour mills, tanneries and iron foundries. as helston has the nearest railway station to the lizard, with its magnificent coast-scenery, there is a considerable tourist traffic in summer. some trade passes through the small port of porthleven, 3 m.