The Gateway to Cornwall
Saltash,
a pleasant and friendly town of around 13,000 people, is the oldest
borough in Cornwall, established as a planned settlement in the late
twelfth century.
Situated beside the Tamar, at the place where travellers along an ancient highway crossed the estuary by means of a ferry, the town has for a long time been known as 'Kynsa le Kernow' – 'The Gateway to Cornwall'.
Although the original ferry is no more, Saltash now has two unique bridges: Isambard K Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge has carried all rail passengers between Devon and Cornwall since 1859, and an average of 44,000 road vehicles daily cross the Tamar Bridge between Plymouth and Saltash.
Saltash town is today the 9th-largest urban area in Cornwall, having expanded exponentially over the last two hundred years until it absorbed the once-separate historic communities of St Stephens, Cross Park, South Pill, Burraton, Lower Burraton, and Burraton Coombe.
The 2021 census recorded a total population of 16,290 for Saltash Civil Parish, which includes not only the town itself, but also the villages and hamlets of Antony Passage, Carkeel, Elmgate, Forder, Longlands, Trehan, Trematon, and Trevollard, as well as several country estates and a number of farms.
Just
like Cornwall, Saltash Civil Parish is almost completely bounded by water:
to the east by the River Tamar, to the south and west by the River Lynher,
and to the north by two small streams (Cock's Lake which flows west into
the Lynher, and Clark's Lake which flows east into the Tamar). The only
'dry' part of the boundary is the short distance between the two streams.
Set in the sheltered valley between Bodmin Moor to the north-west and Dartmoor to the north-east, most of Saltash Civil Parish is a picturesque and largely unspoilt rural landscape of hills and valleys, woods and streams, farms and small villages; more than half of it is in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
From its Norman churches and castle to the modern leisure centre and the prestigious China Fleet Club, from Victorian pubs and inns to brand-new restaurants and shops, from country walks and golfing to BMX biking and skateboarding, Saltash truly has 'something for everyone'.
At
the time this website was launched (in March 2016), although there were a
number of other websites covering various aspects of the town and the
wider area surrounding it, there were none focussing on just Saltash Civil
Parish in its entirety, past and present (and in 2025 this doesn't seem to
have changed).
'Welcome to Saltash', a non-commercial privately-owned website, is my own personal attempt to present all possible information concerning Saltash Civil Parish in a simple to navigate (every page is linked from the main menu), easy to read, user-friendly and accessible way. I hope you enjoy your visit.
Essa a'gas dynnergh! – Welcome To Saltash!
page updated 2025-03-21
