Torpoint () is a town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

on the

Rame Peninsula The Rame Peninsula () is a peninsula in south-east Cornwall. It is surrounded by the English Channel to the south, Plymouth Sound to the east, the Hamoaze to the northeast and the estuary of the River Lynher to the north-west. On a clear day, ...

in southeast

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, ...

, England, United Kingdom. It is situated opposite the city of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

across the Hamoaze which is the tidal estuary of the

River Tamar The Tamar (; ) is a river in south west England that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A large part of the valley of the Tamar is protected as the Tamar Valley National Landscape (an Area of Outsta ...

. Torpoint had a population of 8,457 at the 2001 census, decreasing to 8,364 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards also exist ( Torpoint East and Torpoint West). Their combined populations at the same census were 7,717. Torpoint is linked to Plymouth (and Devonport) by the

Torpoint Ferry The Torpoint Ferry is a car and pedestrian chain ferry connecting the A374 which crosses the Hamoaze, a stretch of water at the mouth of the River Tamar, between Devonport in Plymouth and Torpoint in Cornwall. The service was established in 1 ...

. The three vessels that operate the service are chain ferries – that is, they are propelled across the river by pulling themselves on fixed chains which lie across the bed of the river. The journey takes about seven minutes.

Origin of name

It is said that Torpoint's name is derived from Tar Point, a name given because of the initial industry on the west bank of the Hamoaze. However this is actually a nickname given by workers, Torpoint meaning "rocky headland".

History

Torpoint is an eighteenth-century planned town. The grid-based design for the town was commissioned by

Reginald Pole Carew Reginald Pole Carew (28 July 1753 – 3 January 1835) was a British politician. He was born the son of Reginald Pole and Anne Buller of Stoke Damerel, Plymouth, Devon. He was educated at Winchester College and University College, Oxford and en ...

in the Parish of Antony in 1774. His family continue to have a strong influence in the area, having become the Carew Poles in the twentieth century, and still reside at their family seat,

Antony House Antony House is an early 18th-century property in the care of the National Trust. It is located between the town of Torpoint and the village of Antony in the county of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a Grade I listed building. The hou ...

. In 1796 Torpoint was the setting for a shooting battle between the crew of a government vessel, the ''Viper'', and a large party of armed liquor

smugglers Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

, in which one person was killed and five people seriously wounded. Due to the presence of Devonport Dockyard, the town grew as Dockyard workers settled there. The establishment of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

's main training facility, HMS ''Raleigh'' also increased the population of Torpoint.

Parish churches

Torpoint has four parish churches known at "Maryfield Church", "Torpoint Cornerstone Church" , "Catholic Church of Saint Joan of Arc" and "St James Church"

Notable people from Torpoint

''See :People from Torpoint'' *

John Langdon Down John Langdon Haydon Down (18 November 1828 – 7 October 1896) was a British physician best known for his description of the genetic condition now known as Down's or Down syndrome, which he originally classified in 1862. He is also noted for h ...

was born in Torpoint in 1828. He later described the medical condition which is now referred to as Down syndrome. He was called back on a number of occasions to help his father in his local business until his father's death in 1853. * Jack Stephens a footballer for Southampton F.C.

Education

Educational institutions in Torpoint include: *Torpoint Infant School — a medium-large

infant school An infant school is a type of school or school department for young children. Today, the term is mainly used in England and Wales. In the Republic of Ireland, the first two years of primary school are called infant classes. Infant schools were ...

. *Carbeile Junior School — a large

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. * Torpoint Community College, a small secondary school.

Sport and leisure

Torpoint has a

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

club, Torpoint Athletic F.C., which plays at The Mill.

Cornish wrestling

Cornish wrestling Cornish wrestling () is a form of wrestling that has been established in Cornwall for many centuries and possibly longer. It is similar to the Breton people, Breton Gouren wrestling style. It is colloquially known as "wrasslin’"Phillipps, K C: ...

tournaments, for prizes, were held in Torpoint in the 1700s.Tripp, Michael: ''PERSISTENCE OF DIFFERENCE: A HISTORY OF CORNISH WRESTLING'', University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2009, Vol I p2-217.

Twinning

Torpoint is twinned with Benodet (Benoded) in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, France.

Town Council

1894 The Torpoint Town Council was established with Joseph Shepheard as its chairman. Ron Widdecombe was the first Mayor of Torpoint. The Town Council has Gary Davis as the town mayor and Julie Martin as the deputy mayor. The Town Council is made up of 15 East Ward councillors and 1 West Ward councillor.

Town Events and Holidays

Freedom of Torpoint march St Piran's day Armed Forces Day Commonwealth Day Day of Accession Council and Principal Proclamation Merchant Navy Day St George's Day Christmas Lights Switch On Civic Service

References

External links

Torpoint website

Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Torpoint
{{Authority control Towns in Cornwall Civil parishes in Cornwall Populated coastal places in Cornwall