Located at the bottom of Coinagehall Street in Helston is the distinctive neo-gothic archway of the Humphry Millet Grylls Monument. It is often referred to as Gryll's Gate or just 'The Monument'.
The arch, with it's butresses and four tall octangonal pinnicles, was erected in 1834 using 196 tons of finest granite ashlar at a grand total of £384 - the money raised from a 'subscription' paid by local miners as a memorial.
A eulogy in latin was written by Derwent Coleridge and placed in a bottle which was deposited in a hole made in the first stone laid at the south-west corner. A brass inscription was also put in the foundation stone.
Grylls was a Helston banker and solicitor who was popular due to securing the funding necessary to keep the Wheal Vor copper mine open and in doing so saving the jobs of more than 1,200 men, women and children. At this time (1830) the closing of the mines would have had serious implications for the local economy and would have meant extremely hard times for many.
Grylls died on the 17th April 1834 at his home at Bosahan at the age of just forty five. His funeral procession was two miles long and nearly 2 and a half thousand people donated money towards the cost of the memorial.
