Calstock
Calstock (Cornish: Kalstok) is a civil parish and a large village in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the border with Devon. The village is situated on the River Tamar 6 miles south west of Tavistock and 10 miles north of Plymouth.
Calstock village is within the Tamar Valley AONB, is overlooked by Cotehele house and gardens, and lies on the scenic Tamar Valley railway.
Calstock railway station opened on 2 March 1908.
The village is twinned with Saint-Thuriau in Brittany, France.
There is evidence of human settlement in Calstock from Roman, or pre-Roman times, settlers attracted by the rich source of minerals, such as tin, in the area. An iron age hill fort is to be found in the north of the parish. A Roman fort, only the third known in Cornwall, was discovered next to the church in 2008. It is thought that up to 500 soldiers would have been based here. More recent excavations have revealed the presence of a Roman mine consisting of pits connected by a network of tunnels. There is also evidence of a Roman road in the vicinity.
In Saxon times Calstock was in the Kingdom of Cornwall, which resisted the spread of Wessex from the east. In 838 AD Wessex had spread as far as the Tamar, and a battle for independence was fought near Calstock.
Following the Norman Conquest, Calstock manor was recorded in the Domesday Book, referred to as Callestock. The Saxon manor (held by Asgar) was taken over, and in the 14th century became part of the Duchy of Cornwall: one of the 17 Antiqua maneria.
At the time of Domesday Book (1086) the manor was held by Reginald from Robert, Count of Mortain. The manor was sold by the Duchy to John Williams of Scorrier House circa 1807.
Mining was important in Calstock from Mediaeval times, with the Duchy mining silver. The industry was booming in the late 19th century, and the discovery of copper, coupled with nearby granite quarrying, made Calstock a busy port. The rapid population boom due to the growth of industry led, in 1849, to an outbreak of cholera. The industry declined in the early 20th century due to foreign competition, and now only the ruined engine houses and other mine buildings that dot the landscape remain.
The Tamar is navigable to boats past Calstock some 3 miles (4.8 km) upstream to Morwellham Quay with some 10 feet (3.0 m) or even 20 feet (6.1 m) of water at extreme spring tides. Calstock Quay and Danescombe Quay were once important for transporting minerals from the various mines in the area.
In the Victorian era when steamers brought tourists to the village, Calstock was visited by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1846. Tourist boats still operate from Plymouth as far as Cotehele in the summer months. The river has it own unique design of craft, The Tamar barge.
The importance of the river as a transport route declined with the construction of the 14 miles (23 km) Tamar Valley railway at the start of the 20th century. The village is dominated by the railway's viaduct.
Calstock had two main boat builders, Goss's Yard, which built the ketch GARLANDSTONE, now preserved at Morwellham Quay industrial museum, and May's Yard, in the Danescombe Valley. GARLANDSTONE was, unusually, built as a speculative venture by James Goss to keep his men employed at a period of diminishing repair work following the run down and closure of Morwellham Quay.
A surviving Tamar barge, SHAMROCK, is preserved by the National Trust and National Maritime Museum at Cotehele Quay. A second barge, LYNHER, also built by James Goss, is privately owned at Cremyll
There are four sets of lime kilns at Calstock and more at Cotehele Quay. Further kilns were located at various points along the river. The burning of lime was a major industry in the area in the 19th century. The limestone was delivered to the kilns by boat but the resulting lime was shipped out to the various farms by horse and cart. It was used as a fertiliser, an ingredient in paint and as a mortar for bricklaying.
The East Cornwall Mineral Railway was a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge railway line, opened in 1872 to connect mines and quarries in the Callington and Gunnislake areas in east Cornwall with shipping at Calstock on the River Tamar. The line included a rope-worked incline to descend to the quay at Calstock. Wagons with goods from the mines around Gunnislake and Callington were brought down the hillside on a 0.4 miles (0.6 km) cable-worked incline with a gradient of 1 in 6 (17%).
Following the opening of the LSWR mainline railway at nearby Bere Alston, a connecting line from there to Calstock was opened, and the existing line converted to standard gauge, opening throughout as a passenger line in 1908. When rural lines in the area were closed in the 1960s under the Beeching Axe, a short section of the original ECMR line was retained to keep open a connection from Plymouth to Gunnislake, and that section remains open.
The viaduct is 120 feet (37 m) high with twelve 60 feet (18 m) wide arches, and a further small arch in the Calstock abutment. Three of the piers stand in the River Tamar, which is tidal at this point and has a minimum clearance at high tide of 110 feet (34 m).
It was built between 1904 and 1907 by John Lang of Liskeard using 11,148 concrete blocks. These were cast in a temporary yard on the Devon bank opposite the village. The engineers were Richard Church and W. R. Galbraith. The viaduct was first crossed by truck on 8 August 1907 and first used by passengers on 2 March 1908. The viaduct is a Grade II* listed structure.
Read MoreCalstock village is within the Tamar Valley AONB, is overlooked by Cotehele house and gardens, and lies on the scenic Tamar Valley railway.
Calstock railway station opened on 2 March 1908.
The village is twinned with Saint-Thuriau in Brittany, France.
There is evidence of human settlement in Calstock from Roman, or pre-Roman times, settlers attracted by the rich source of minerals, such as tin, in the area. An iron age hill fort is to be found in the north of the parish. A Roman fort, only the third known in Cornwall, was discovered next to the church in 2008. It is thought that up to 500 soldiers would have been based here. More recent excavations have revealed the presence of a Roman mine consisting of pits connected by a network of tunnels. There is also evidence of a Roman road in the vicinity.
In Saxon times Calstock was in the Kingdom of Cornwall, which resisted the spread of Wessex from the east. In 838 AD Wessex had spread as far as the Tamar, and a battle for independence was fought near Calstock.
Following the Norman Conquest, Calstock manor was recorded in the Domesday Book, referred to as Callestock. The Saxon manor (held by Asgar) was taken over, and in the 14th century became part of the Duchy of Cornwall: one of the 17 Antiqua maneria.
At the time of Domesday Book (1086) the manor was held by Reginald from Robert, Count of Mortain. The manor was sold by the Duchy to John Williams of Scorrier House circa 1807.
Mining was important in Calstock from Mediaeval times, with the Duchy mining silver. The industry was booming in the late 19th century, and the discovery of copper, coupled with nearby granite quarrying, made Calstock a busy port. The rapid population boom due to the growth of industry led, in 1849, to an outbreak of cholera. The industry declined in the early 20th century due to foreign competition, and now only the ruined engine houses and other mine buildings that dot the landscape remain.
The Tamar is navigable to boats past Calstock some 3 miles (4.8 km) upstream to Morwellham Quay with some 10 feet (3.0 m) or even 20 feet (6.1 m) of water at extreme spring tides. Calstock Quay and Danescombe Quay were once important for transporting minerals from the various mines in the area.
In the Victorian era when steamers brought tourists to the village, Calstock was visited by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1846. Tourist boats still operate from Plymouth as far as Cotehele in the summer months. The river has it own unique design of craft, The Tamar barge.
The importance of the river as a transport route declined with the construction of the 14 miles (23 km) Tamar Valley railway at the start of the 20th century. The village is dominated by the railway's viaduct.
Calstock had two main boat builders, Goss's Yard, which built the ketch GARLANDSTONE, now preserved at Morwellham Quay industrial museum, and May's Yard, in the Danescombe Valley. GARLANDSTONE was, unusually, built as a speculative venture by James Goss to keep his men employed at a period of diminishing repair work following the run down and closure of Morwellham Quay.
A surviving Tamar barge, SHAMROCK, is preserved by the National Trust and National Maritime Museum at Cotehele Quay. A second barge, LYNHER, also built by James Goss, is privately owned at Cremyll
There are four sets of lime kilns at Calstock and more at Cotehele Quay. Further kilns were located at various points along the river. The burning of lime was a major industry in the area in the 19th century. The limestone was delivered to the kilns by boat but the resulting lime was shipped out to the various farms by horse and cart. It was used as a fertiliser, an ingredient in paint and as a mortar for bricklaying.
The East Cornwall Mineral Railway was a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge railway line, opened in 1872 to connect mines and quarries in the Callington and Gunnislake areas in east Cornwall with shipping at Calstock on the River Tamar. The line included a rope-worked incline to descend to the quay at Calstock. Wagons with goods from the mines around Gunnislake and Callington were brought down the hillside on a 0.4 miles (0.6 km) cable-worked incline with a gradient of 1 in 6 (17%).
Following the opening of the LSWR mainline railway at nearby Bere Alston, a connecting line from there to Calstock was opened, and the existing line converted to standard gauge, opening throughout as a passenger line in 1908. When rural lines in the area were closed in the 1960s under the Beeching Axe, a short section of the original ECMR line was retained to keep open a connection from Plymouth to Gunnislake, and that section remains open.
The viaduct is 120 feet (37 m) high with twelve 60 feet (18 m) wide arches, and a further small arch in the Calstock abutment. Three of the piers stand in the River Tamar, which is tidal at this point and has a minimum clearance at high tide of 110 feet (34 m).
It was built between 1904 and 1907 by John Lang of Liskeard using 11,148 concrete blocks. These were cast in a temporary yard on the Devon bank opposite the village. The engineers were Richard Church and W. R. Galbraith. The viaduct was first crossed by truck on 8 August 1907 and first used by passengers on 2 March 1908. The viaduct is a Grade II* listed structure.
