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Saltash, or Essay

SALTASH, or Essay, a market-town and chapelry, and formerly a representative borough, in the parish of St. Stephen, union of St. Germans, locally in the S. division of the hundred of East, E. division of Cornwall, 4 miles (N. N. W.) from Plymouth, 21 (S. S. E.) from Launceston, and 220 (W. S. W.) from London; containing 1541 inhabitants. This place at an early period obtained a high degree of importance; and about 1393, the assizes for the county were regularly held here. During the war in the reign of Charles I., the town sustained repeated assaults from both of the contending parties, by which it was alternately possessed, till its final abandonment by the royalists in 1646. It is pleasantly situated on a steep rocky elevation rising from the western bank of the river Tamar, and consists principally of three narrow streets irregularly formed; the houses in general are of ancient appearance. The inhabitants are chiefly seafaring men and others employed in the fisheries, or connected with the docks of Devonport. There are still some extensive malting concerns, for which the place was formerly celebrated. The market is on Tuesday, and a market for provisions is held on Saturday. Fairs are held on the 2nd of February and 25th of July, mostly for cattle; and four quarterly cattle-markets on the Tuesdays preceding the quarter-days.

The first charter of incorporation was granted in the reign of Henry III.; it was confirmed by Richard II., and renewed with additional privileges by Elizabeth, Charles II., and George III. The municipal body consists of a mayor and six aldermen, styled "the Council of the Borough," with an indefinite number of free burgesses, assisted by a recorder and other officers. The property of the oyster-fishery to the mouth of the Tamar, except between Candlemas and Easter, with river dues for anchorage, buoyage, and salvage, and a right of ferry, is vested in the corporation. The magistrates hold a court of record, and a general court of quarter-sessions, for the borough and liberties; and the inhabitants are exempt from all church and county rates, and from serving on juries, except in their own courts. Saltash first returned members to parliament in the reign of Edward VI.; it was disfranchised by the act 2nd of William IV., cap. 45. The court of record, established by charter of George III., for the recovery of debts to any amount, is held every week, the mayor and aldermen, or any two of them, presiding. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the family of Hawks; net income, £45; appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The chapel, dedicated to St. Nicholas, is an ancient structure with a fine massive tower, and contains a magnificent monument to the memory of three brothers named Drew. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans; and a grammar school endowed with £6. 7. 6. per annum.


Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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