Calstock () 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 south west of Tavistock and north of Plymouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 Plymouth & Launceston
The parish had a population of 6,095 in the 2001 census.Office for National Statistics & Cornwall County Council, 2001. Parish population statistics This had increased to 6,431 at the 2011 census. The parish encompasses of land, of water, and of the tidal Tamar.Calstock Online Parish Clerk, 2005. Calstock Parish .
As well as Calstock, other settlements in the parish include Albaston, Chilsworthy, Gunnislake, Harrowbarrow, Latchley, Metherell, Coxpark, Dimson, Drakewalls, Norris Green, Rising Sun and St Ann's Chapel.Cornwall; Explore Britain
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.
Early history
Archaeological excavations and geophysical surveys on Church Hill, conducted between 2007 and 2011 by archaeologists from the University of Exeter, revealed evidences of a settled population in the Early Bronze Age (c. 2200-2000 BCE). During the Late Iron Age (500-350 BCE), the church hill was surrounded by an enclosure. It is possible that the Romans reused this Iron Age hill fort when they set up their own, albeit smaller, squared Roman fort measuring about . This fort, discovered during the same excavation, is only the third known in Cornwall, and the largest. The fort was likely established in about 50/55 CE, contemporaneously with a legionary fortress at Exeter. 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. The fort was occupied for about thirty years: in 75 CE, the Legio II Augusta moved on to South Wales, leaving auxiliary units behind in Devon and Cornwall. The site was probably abandoned around 80/85 CE, buildings were disassembled and demolished and the ramparts and ditches levelled. Only from the 8th century CE onwards, was the hill again populated. Part of the Roman site is now occupied by St Andrew's Church and the cemeteries; an interpretation board at the entrance to the cemetery opposite the church gives more details.
In Saxon times, Calstock was in the Kingdom of Cornwall, which resisted the spread of Wessex from the east. In 838 CE, 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. There were two and a half hides of land and land for 12 ploughs. Reginald held one virgate of land with two ploughs and 12 serfs. Thirty villeins and 30 smallholders had the rest of the land with six ploughs. There were 100 acres of woodland, 3 square leagues of pasture and three pigs. The value of the manor was £3 sterling, though it had formerly been worth £6.Thorn, C. et al., ed. (1979) Cornwall. Chichester: Phillimore; entry 5,2,12 The manor was sold by the Duchy to John Williams of Scorrier House circa 1807.
During the English Civil War, Calstock became a garrison of the Royalists in Cornwall, consisting of roughly 1,200 Cornishmen. The force was quartered at Cotehele and Harewood House. During the civil war, the Parliamentarians attacked Gunnislake New Bridge; it was defended by Sir Richard Grenville and Captain Southcote with men from their garrison at Calstock.Royal Institution of Cornwall English Civil War and Captain Thomas Southcot pg 32 At the cost of 240 men, the bridge was lost to the Parliamentarian forces, however they failed to advance further into Cornwall.A. L. Rowse (1955) The Borderlands: the Scottish Borders and Cornwall, Palgrave Macmillan, London Calstock and Cornwall were commended by King Charles I for their loyalty and the King's letter to the Cornish people is still displayed at St Andrew's Church, Calstock.
Industries
Mining
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 pump houses that dot the landscape remain.
Calstock had much mining activity, principally; Cotehele Consol - copper and arsenic Calstock Consol - copper Okeltor Consol - copper, tin and arsenic, mined silver and copper up until 1877 Wheal Trelawny - copper, very close to Okeltor Consols Danescombe Mines - copper, tin and arsenic Wheal Zion - copper Wheal Edward - copper and arsenic Wheal Arthur - copper and arsenic, directly east of Wheal Edward
Transport
The Tamar is navigable to boats past Calstock some upstream to Morwellham Quay with some or even 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 importance of the river as a transport route declined with the construction of the Tamar Valley railway at the start of the 20th century. The village is still dominated by the railway's viaduct.
Boat building The river has its own unique design of craft, The Tamar barge. Calstock had two main boat builders, Goss's Yard, which built the West Country Ketch Garlandstone, now 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
Lime production
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.
Churches Parish church of St Andrew
The church is said to have been consecrated about 1290. Nothing obvious remains of this period, but the pillars and arches to the north of the centre aisle of the present building are early 14th century. About 1420 the south aisle was added, and the whole church re-roofed. In 1861, an architectural survey of the diocese of Exeter noted that the whole church was in a sad state. This resulted in the thorough restoration of 1867, the floor levels were altered, the existing tiles relaid, the chancel given its present roof, and the building furnished with plain pitched-pine benches. Although the restoration was severe, many of the interesting features of the church were preserved. In addition, three chapels-of-ease were built at Gunnislake, Harrowbarrow and Latchley; these chapels were needed because of the increase in population for the mines of the parish.Brown, H Miles (1976) A Century for Cornwall. Truro: Blackford; p. 24
St. Anne's, Gunnislake The land was bought on 29 January 1879. The total cost of the building was £2,400 of which the Duke of Bedford gave £500 and the Church building society gave £200. The foundation stone of the church was laid by the Dowager Countess of Mount Edgcumbe, at 3pm on Tuesday, 30 September 1879. The building was designed by J. Piers St Aubyn and was consecrated by Edward Benson, the Bishop of Truro, in 1880. It was dedicated to St. Anne because of an ancient local holy well, close to the site of the church. The church seats up to 225 worshippers. In 1918 Gunnislake made an appeal to become its own separate parish but failed to raise the necessary funds.
All Saints, Harrowbarrow In 1870, a parishioner presented the rector with a piece of land, near the Prince of Wales Mine. The church was designed by J. Piers St Aubyn; it was built as a school and a mission chapel for £700. The church seats up to 80 worshippers.
Albaston Chapel The graveyard in front was consecrated in 1888. Outside the chapel, just inside the main gate, there is a large granite memorial cross commemorating 132 men who made the supreme sacrifice in war. The cross bears the following inscription;
St Michael and All Angels, Latchley Church In 1879, the "foundation stone of our long wished for church was laid". Latchley church was designed by Piers St Aubyn, the same architect as Gunnislake. It was built three years later than Gunnislake at a cost of £1,147 as a chapel-of-ease dedicated to St Michael and All Angels. It was dedicated by the Bishop of Truro on 20 July 1883. After a bad attack of woodworm to the building in August 1968. it was closed to worshippers. In 1985, it was sold and used for a dwelling.
Cotehele's chapels
St. Katharine, House Chapel Cotehele In Cotehele, on the west side of Hall Court is the vicarage and chapel. The chapel, dedicated to St. Katharine and St. Anne, is connected to the main building via a small passageway leading to the dining room. The chapel is one of the oldest rooms in the house, alongside the Great Hall. It still has the original clock, a rare example from the Tudor period, still in operation today.
St. Thomas Becket, Woodland Chapel Cotehele In the grounds of Cotehele, directly East of the House close to the River Tamar, lies a peaceful basic chapel. inside there are pews going around the walls, two minister's benches and a very ornate table. the patron saint of the chapel is St. Thomas Becket.
Cornish wrestling Cornish wrestling prize tournaments were held at the Bridge Inn in Calstock in the 1800s and 1900s.West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 20 November 1846.Western Morning News, 12 July 1926. Tournaments were also held at St Ann's ChapelRoyal Cornwall Gazette, 21 August 1875.St. Austell Star, 13 September 1906. and AlbastonRoyal Cornwall Gazette, 11 September 1875.
Primary school Calstock Community Primary School was built in 1901 and opened on 6 January 1902. At that time, the school consisted of just two main classrooms. It has since been extended with the addition of the infant suite which won an award for architectural design, in keeping with the remainder of the school. The centenary of the school was celebrated in the summer of 2002. In 2014, Stoke Climsland School federated with Calstock to pool resources. The vast majority of pupils continue their education at Callington Community College or Devonport High School for Boys / Girls.
Railway East Cornwall Mineral Railway