The Wenford Dries were built in the early part of the 20th century (probably post-1907) to serve the china clay pit at Stannon on Bodmin Moor some 7.2km to the north east.
Liquid china clay was carried in a pipeline from the pit to the settling tanks behind the dries.
The dries operated until 2002 apart from a brief closure during the Second World War.
The works were originally built by the Stannon China Clay Company, but were acquired by English China Clays in 1919. The choice of site was heavily influenced by the presence of an existing railway line leading from Wenford Bridge which was originally constructed to carry granite from the nearby De Lank quarries. The dry was built adjacent to the railway line and a large private siding was built to connect to the network.