Saltash, Cornwall
Historical Description
Saltash, an ancient corporate town, a parish, and a municipal borough in Cornwall. The town stands on the estuary of the Tamar, at the W end of the Royal Albert Bridge, with a station on the G.W.R., 246 miles from London, and 3 NW by N of Plymouth and Devonport It was anciently a place of much importance, and owed part of its importance to its being one of the passes into Cornwall, was the seat of assizes for the county in the 14th century, and was occupied alternately by the Parliamentarians and Royalists in the Civil Wars of Charles I. It acquired a borough charter in the time of Henry III., sent two members to Parliament from the time of Edward VI. till 1832, when it was disfranchised, and is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors, who form the urban district council. It underwent revival at the railway epoch in connection with the building and the opening of the Royal Albert Bridge, and has since that time undergone much improvement and extension. The sewerage of the town has within the last few years been greatly improved. Saltash consists partly of old streets, picturesquely grouped on the steep acclivities of a rocky eminence, partly of new terraces, on a new site, at Port View; carries on malting, fishing, and a coasting trade; and has a post, money order, and telegraph office. It contains a guildhall, reading-room, several hotels, and a picturesque hospital erected in 1887. A steam ferry supplies communication with the E bank of the Tamar. The ecclesiastical parish of St Nicholas and Faith was formed in 1881. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Truro; gross value, £300 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Truro. The church, which is the property of the corporation, is an ancient building of stone, principally Norman, and consists of chancel, nave, N aisle, N chapel, N transept, and S porch; it was well restored in 1869. There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels, the latter being a handsome edifice erected in 1892. The parish is co-extensive with the municipal borough. Acreage, 192; population, 2745.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Cornwall | |
Hundred | East | |
Poor Law union | St. Germans |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Saltash from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Saltash, or Essay)
Maps
Online maps of Saltash are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Cornwall papers online:
- Royal Cornwall Gazette
- Cornishman
- West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser
- Lake's Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser
Visitations Heraldic
We have a copy of The Visitations of Cornwall, by Lieut.-Col. J.L. Vivian online.