St Day was already a place of pilgrimage by the 6th century and became a market centre. It served an established local tin industry in the 16th - 17th centuries, which had declined by the early 18th century. With the growth of the ‘Copper Kingdom’ in Gwennap from about 1750 onwards, the town entered a period of growth, as the commercial centre of the area. St Day ecclesiastical parish was carved out of Gwennap parish in 1835. An early church on the brow of the hill at West End fell into disrepair at the Reformation and finally the tower was demolished in 1797. The Old Church, now roofless was dedicated in 1828, it closed in 1956, the walls and tower have been stabilised and it is now open in the summer as a visitors centre with interpretive boards showing some of the history of the local area, as part of the Mineral Tramways Project. The churchyard was full by 1988 and later burials are in the cemetery run by the parish council.