Calstock grew up as an island port on the River Tamar fourteen miles upriver from Plymouth Sound. Granite, tin and copper from local mines and quarries was carried by bargedown the river to the sea. Calstock had a large boat building industry and addle steamers also operated along the Tamar from here. Eventually the railway brought about the demise of Calstock as an important town.
Calstock today has a monument that the railway brought, the 12 arched railway viaduct over the river and dominates the scene. It is a graceful structure, built in 1908 to carry the branch line from Plymouth to Gunnislake, and though made of concrete blocks, it does show what can be done with the material.
The Calstock parish church, St Andrews, dates from the 14th century, but was unsympathetically restored by James St Aubyn in 1867. Nevertheless the views from the churchyard are impressive.
A mile downriver from Calstock you will find the mediaeval house and estate of Cotehele, owned by the National Trust since 1947. Cotehele once belonging to the Earls of Mount Edgecumbe; and the house was built by Sir Richard Edgecumbe during the reign of Henry VII. King Charles II, then Prince of Wales, stayed here for a short period in 1645, and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1846.
Calstock, Cornwall Genealogical information on Genuki
Around Calstock (Archive Photographs: Images of England) Nikki Chaplin, Calstock Archive Trust