Saltash - Cornwall

Saltash, history and present-day details

Saltash is the gateway to Cornwall on the A38 via the Tamar Bridge and by train via Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge.

Trematon provides the earliest evidence of Celtic settlement in the 7th century. This was followed by the Saxons, who took Trematon Manor in the 9th century up until the Norman Conquest of 1066.

William the Conqueror ordered Trematon Castle to be built at Trematon after 1066. St Stephens�s church was built at about 1076. Trematon or "Trematone" was listed in the Doomsday book of 1086.

In the late 1100s, the people of Trematon realised a better trading position on the shores of the Tamar where fishermen and ferrymen were already established. The village of Esse, or Essa, as the borough is known today, was built.

It is thought that the word, Esse, probably through local pronunciation, and possibly from the �Ash� tree, became the word 'Ayshe' or 'Asshe'. The word, Salt, likely to come from the local salt mill at nearby Salt Mill Creek, formed the name Salt Asshe, which started to be used in the mid 1300s at roughly the time it was granted a royal charter.

Saltash continued to develop and prosper. In Plymouth's charter of 1439, Saltash was recognised as a significant borough, along with its trade and the use in particular of the river Tamar. By this time large ships would tie up on the Saltash waterfront, which enjoyed both deep and relatively safe waters. Furthermore, Saltash had jurisdiction of the waters out as far as Plymouth Sound and Cattewater.

The 1800s was a century of significant technological change for Saltash, as it was all over Great Britain. The coming of the steam engine gave rise to the first steam ferry service to operate at Saltash. Then, in 1848, Saltash was chosen as the crossing for a new railway. The bridge was to be designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and was opened by Price Albert in 1859 and aptly named, The Royal Albert Bridge.

As with many towns served by the railway, Saltash continued to prosper. The railway served as a means to transport produce and, importantly, people, who worked at the local Dockyard. This was the start of the trend for the people living in Saltash to work in Devon and further afield.

In the late 1950s work started on the Tamar road bridge, which was completed in 1961. Its opening marked the end of the official 400-year era for the ferry service, which had been running unofficially for centuries prior to Elizabethan times.

Today, Saltash comprises the areas of Essa, St Stephens, Pill and Burraton, and has a population of some 15,000 and in the order of 5,400 homes. It is the largest town in the Caradon district area of SE Cornwall

Saltash is a great place to visit or a base to stay, as many of the main attractions of both Cornwall and Devon are within easy reach of Saltash. There is an abundance of inns and guest houses both in and around the town and you don't need to travel far to take in some breathtaking scenery.



�Paul Michael

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