North Cornwall

Last updated

North Cornwall District
CornwallNorth.png
Population
  197358,689 [1]
  200180,529 [2]
History
  Origin
  Created1 April 1974
  Abolished31 March 2009
  Succeeded by Cornwall Council unitary authority
StatusDistrict
ONS code15UE
GovernmentDistrict council
   HQ Wadebridge
North Cornwall District Council logo.png
Subdivisions
  Type Civil parishes

North Cornwall (Cornish : An Tiredh Uhel [3] ) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is also the name of a former local government district, which was administered from Bodmin and Wadebridge 50°30′58″N4°50′06″W / 50.516°N 4.835°W / 50.516; -4.835 Coordinates: 50°30′58″N4°50′06″W / 50.516°N 4.835°W / 50.516; -4.835 . Other towns in the area are Launceston, Bude, Padstow, and Camelford.

Contents

North Cornwall is an area of outstanding natural beauty that is of great geological and scientific interest. It includes the only part of Cornwall that is formed of carboniferous rocks, the northern area of North Cornwall District. The rest of the district lies on Devonian sedimentary strata and the granite of Bodmin Moor. A similar area is covered by the North Cornwall parliamentary constituency.

Parishes of North Cornwall

Geography

Looking along The Platt towards Wadebridge Town Hall Wadebridge Clock tower.jpg
Looking along The Platt towards Wadebridge Town Hall
The motte at Launceston Castle LauncestonCastle.jpg
The motte at Launceston Castle
The Rumps, on Pentire Point, North Cornwall, site of Iron Age cliff fortifications The rumps.jpg
The Rumps, on Pentire Point, North Cornwall, site of Iron Age cliff fortifications

North Cornwall has a stretch of coastline that borders the Celtic Sea to the north. The Carboniferous sandstone cliffs that surround Bude (and stretch down as far south as Crackington Haven) were formed during the Carboniferous period, around 300 million years ago. They are part of what are known to geologists as the Culm Measures which continue eastwards across north Devon. The folded and contorted stratification of shale and sandstone is unique in southern England. During the Variscan Orogeny, which affected the entire Cornish coast, the cliffs were pushed up from underneath the sea, creating the overlapping strata. As the sands and cliffs around Bude contain calcium carbonate (a natural fertiliser), farmers used to take sand from the beach, for spreading on their fields. The cliffs around Bude are the only ones in Cornwall that are made of Carboniferous sandstone, as most of the Cornish coast is geologically formed of Devonian slate, granite and Precambrian metamorphic rocks). The stratified cliffs of Bude gave their name to a geological event called the Bude Formation. [4] Many formations can be viewed from the South West Coast Path which passes through the town.

The larger harbours are at Padstow and Bude and on the intervening coast Port Isaac, Port Gaverne, Port Quin, Port William, Tintagel, Bossiney and Boscastle have all been used either for fishing or the export of slate. There are good beaches at Polzeath, Trebarwith Strand and Bude. At Delabole the large Delabole Quarry has been worked for many centuries and there were once in the parish of Tintagel many other slate quarries. Granite and elvan have also been important minerals: there are major granite quarries in the parish of St Breward and also some china clay works on the edges of Bodmin Moor e.g. at Stannon near Camelford.

Most of the lowland areas have good agricultural land used either for mixed or dairy farming. At Davidstow much of the milk is processed into Davidstow cheese.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodmin Moor</span> Granite moorland in northeast Cornwall, England

Bodmin Moor is a granite moorland in north-eastern Cornwall, England. It is 208 square kilometres (80 sq mi) in size, and dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. It includes Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall, and Rough Tor, a slightly lower peak. Many of Cornwall's rivers have their sources here. It has been inhabited since at least the Neolithic era, when primitive farmers started clearing trees and farming the land. They left their megalithic monuments, hut circles and cairns, and the Bronze Age culture that followed left further cairns, and more stone circles and stone rows. By medieval and modern times, nearly all the forest was gone and livestock rearing predominated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tintagel</span> Human settlement in England

Tintagel or Trevena is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, England. The village and nearby Tintagel Castle are associated with the legends surrounding King Arthur and in recent times has become a tourist attraction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Camel</span> River in Cornwall, England

The River Camel is a river in Cornwall, England. It rises on the edge of Bodmin Moor and with its tributaries its catchment area covers much of North Cornwall. The river flows into the eastern Celtic Sea between Stepper Point and Pentire Point having covered about 30 miles, making it the second longest river wholly in Cornwall. The river is tidal upstream to Egloshayle and is popular for sailing, birdwatching and fishing. The name Camel comes from the Cornish language for 'the crooked one', a reference to its winding course. Historically the river was divided into three named stretches. Heyl was the name for the estuary up to Egloshayle, the River Allen was the stretch between Egloshayle and Trecarne, whilst the Camel was reserved for the stretch of river between its source and Trecarne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camelford</span> Town in Cornwall, England

Camelford is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed by Camelford Town Council. Lanteglos-by-Camelford is the ecclesiastical parish in which the town is situated. The ward population at the 2011 Census was 4,001. The town population at the same census was 865.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boscastle</span> Human settlement in England

Boscastle is a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Forrabury and Minster. It is 14 miles (23 km) south of Bude and 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Tintagel. The harbour is a natural inlet protected by two stone harbour walls built in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville and is the only significant harbour for 20 miles (32 km) along the coast. The village extends up the valleys of the River Valency and River Jordan. Heavy rainfall on 16 August 2004 caused extensive damage to the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Isaac</span> A village in Cornwall, England

Port Isaac is a small fishing village on the Atlantic coast of north Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. The nearest towns are Wadebridge and Camelford, each ten miles (16 km) away. A nearby hamlet, Port Gaverne, is sometimes considered to be part of Port Isaac. The meaning of the village's Cornish name, Porthysek, is "corn port", indicating a trade in corn from the arable inland district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliamentary constituency since 1918

North Cornwall is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Scott Mann, a Conservative since the 2015 general election. Like all British constituencies, the seat elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years. The seat was created in 1918. Since 1950, the constituency has been held by MPs from either the Conservative Party or the Liberal Democrats.

Killas is a Cornish mining term for metamorphic rock strata of sedimentary origin which was altered regionally by the Variscan orogeny and then locally by heat from the intruded granites in the English counties of Devon and Cornwall. The term is used in both counties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of Cornwall</span>

The geology of Cornwall, England, is dominated by its granite backbone, part of the Cornubian batholith, formed during the Variscan orogeny. Around this is an extensive metamorphic aureole formed in the mainly Devonian slates that make up most of the rest of the county. There is an area of sandstone and shale of Carboniferous age in the north east, and the Lizard peninsula is formed of a rare section of uplifted oceanic crust.

The PL postcode area, also known as the Plymouth postcode area, is a group of 35 postcode districts in South West England, within 25 post towns. These cover west Devon and east Cornwall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Cornwall Railway</span> Disused railway line in Devon and Cornwall, England

The North Cornwall Railway was a railway line running from Halwill in Devon to Padstow in Cornwall via Launceston, Camelford and Wadebridge, a distance of 49 miles 67 chains. Opened in the last decade of the nineteenth century, it was part of a drive by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) to develop holiday traffic to Cornwall. The LSWR had opened a line connecting Exeter with Holsworthy in 1879, and by encouraging the North Cornwall Railway it planned to create railway access to previously inaccessible parts of the northern coastal area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wadebridge railway station</span> Disused railway station in Cornwall, England

Wadebridge railway station was a railway station that served the town of Wadebridge in Cornwall, England. It was on the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transport in Cornwall</span>

The evolution of transport in Cornwall has been shaped by the county's strong maritime, mining and industrial traditions and much of the transport infrastructure reflects this heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pendoggett</span> Human settlement in England

Pendoggett is a village in the civil parish of St Kew, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a linear village stradling the B3314 Wadebridge to Delabole road about five miles (8 km) northwest of Wadebridge, four miles (6.5 km) southeast of Delabole, and two miles (3 km) southeast of Port Isaac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slaughterbridge</span>

Slaughterbridge, Treague and Camelford Station are three adjoining settlements in north Cornwall, England. They straddle the boundary of Forrabury and Minster and Lanteglos by Camelford civil parishes just over a mile (2 km) north-west of the market town of Camelford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brea Hill</span> Hill in Cornwall, England

Brea Hill, pronounced "Bray Hill" is a round hill beside the River Camel estuary in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom The hill is 62 metres (203 ft) high and there are Bronze Age tumuli at the summit. The underlying geology in this area of Cornwall is Devonian slates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Cornwall</span> Overview of and topical guide to Cornwall

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall: Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall is also a royal duchy of the United Kingdom. It has an estimated population of half a million and it has its own distinctive history and culture.

Presented below is an alphabetical index of articles related to Cornwall:

References

  1. Local government in England and Wales: A Guide to the New System. London: HMSO. 1974. p. 38. ISBN   0-11-750847-0.
  2. "Census 2001: North Cornwall". Census 2001 . Office for National Statistics. 1 April 2001. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  3. "Cornish Language Partnership : Place names in the SWF". Magakernow.org.uk. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  4. Whalley, J. S.; Lloyd, G. E. "Tectonics of the Bude Formation" . Retrieved 26 September 2009.