Sandplace () is a small village in the parish of Morval, located two miles north of

Looe Looe (; , ) is a coastal town and civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, with a population of 5,280 at the 2011 census. Looe is west of Plymouth and south of Liskeard, divided in two by the River Looe, East Looe () a ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. It is situated on the B3254, the old

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; ) is an ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) east of Bodmin. Th ...

to Looe road which connects the A387 to the south. The village lies alongside the East Looe river and has been served by Sandplace railway station, on the

Looe Valley Line The Looe Valley Line is an community railway from Liskeard railway station, Liskeard to Looe railway station, Looe in Cornwall, England, that follows the valley of the River Looe, East Looe River for much of its course. It is operated by Great ...

since 1881.

History

Sandplace gets its name from a wharf on the river bank where sea-sand was stored.This, along with lime (imported from Plymouth and burnt in nearby kilns) was used to improve the acid soils of the area. The fertiliser was transported north out of the village on the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal which was completed in 1828. With the exploitation of copper and tin ores in the Caradon area from 1836 onwards, and the opening of the

Liskeard and Caradon Railway The Liskeard and Caradon Railway () was a mineral railway in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, which opened in 1844. It was built to carry the ores of copper and tin, and also granite, from their sources on Caradon Hill down to Moorswater for on ...

in 1844, the canal was not able to cope with the traffic and congestion meant that trade was being lost to competing routes via

Calstock Calstock () is a civil parishes in England, 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, Devon, Tavistock and no ...

and St Germans. A railway line was opened for goods between Moorswater and Looe on 27 December 1860, and the canal went into gradual decline, finally closing in 1910. Within the village is a coaching inn, which was built around 1740 and is now the Polraen Country House Hotel. It was formerly owned by the Morval Estate, which sold it to

Peter Bessell Peter Joseph Bessell (24 August 1921 – 27 November 1985) was a British Liberal Party politician, and Member of Parliament for Bodmin in Cornwall from 1964 to 1970. Early life Peter Bessell was born at a nursing home in Bath, son of tailor Jos ...

the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

MP for the Bodmin constituency. Bessell fled abroad in 1970 to avoid debts from a number of unsuccessful companies.

References

{{authority control Villages in Cornwall Ports and harbours of Cornwall Lime kilns in the United Kingdom