Pendeen is seven miles from Penzance and is famous for the Geevor tin mine, which was worked for over 3000 years by a succession of owners, including the Romans.
The Pendeen Village Hall Community Trust was formed in 2002, and the new building is the result of much hard work and funding form a variety of sources, including the DTI Energy Saving Trust, EDF Energy and Clear Skies.
Energy-efficient technology was a major priority in the design, and the building has solar photo-voltaic panels on the roof and grey-water recycling - in addition to the heat pump.
A water-glycol mixture is pumped through pipework in two boreholes sunk 80 m into the granite beneath the building. At this depth, temperatures average 11°C.
Because the boreholes are below the village hall itself, the flow and return pipework is connected via a manifold in a manhole in the building to avoid pipe joints below ground.
