Saltash stands on the west bank of the Tamar, the river that divides Cornwall from Devon, and for centuries it was the first town a traveller reached on entering the county from the east. In Kernewek it is Essa, the ash. It was made a borough around the start of the thirteenth century, a distinction then held by no other seaport between Dartmouth and Fowey.
The bridges
Two bridges cross the Tamar here, and both are landmarks. The Royal Albert Bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel to carry the railway, was opened by Prince Albert on 2 May 1859. The Tamar Bridge of 1961 carries the A38 as a toll bridge, and in 2001 it became the first suspension bridge to be widened while staying open to traffic.
Old crossings and old quarrels
The Antony Passage Ferry was documented as early as 1324 and fell out of use in the early 1950s. In 1549, during the Cornish rising, rebels under Humphrey Arundell took Trematon Castle by treachery and captured Sir Richard Grenville the elder, a reminder of how close the border troubles came to this quiet quay.
Sources
Last checked: 2026-10-11