Wenfordbridge, or Wenford Bridge, is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

some north of

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

and on the western flank of

Bodmin Moor Bodmin Moor () is a granite moorland in north-eastern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is in size, and dates from the Carboniferous period of geology, geological history. It includes Brown Willy, the highest point in Cornwall, and Rough To ...

, in

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. It takes its name from an old granite bridge over the

River Camel The River Camel (, meaning ''crooked river'') 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 ...

, and lies on the border between the parishes of

St Breward St Breward () is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the western side of Bodmin Moor, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Bodmin. At the 2011 census the parish population including Cooksland and Fentonadle ...

and

St Tudy St Tudy () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Cornwall, England. The village is situated in the River Camel valley approximately five miles northeast of Wadebridge. History The village is mentioned as having a cat ...

. Wenford Bridge was the terminus of a former

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line from

Wadebridge Wadebridge (; ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel upstream from Padstow.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The pe ...

that was originally built by the

Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway was a railway line opened in 1834 in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It linked the quays at Wadebridge with the town of Bodmin and also to quarries at Wenfordbridge.Sources use Wenfordbridge and Wenford Bridg ...

in 1834. The line was built in order to facilitate the transport of sea sand for agricultural use from the estuary of the Camel to the local farms, and never carried passengers. Other traffic included

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and

china clay Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedron, tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen ...

from local quarries, and the line survived to carry the latter until 1983. Today the route of the line forms part of the

Camel Trail The Camel Trail is a permissive cycleway in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, that provides a recreational route for walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders. As a rail trail, the route has only a slight incline following the River Camel fr ...

, a recreational route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

Pottery

The influential

studio potter Studio pottery is pottery made by professional and amateur ceramists working alone or in small groups, making unique items or short runs, especially those that are not intended for daily use as crockery. Typically, all stages of manufacture are ...

Michael Cardew Michael Ambrose Cardew (1901–1983), was an English studio pottery, studio potter who worked in West Africa for twenty years. Early life Cardew was born in Wimbledon, London, the fourth child of Arthur Cardew, a civil servant, and Alexandra ...

purchased the inn at Wenford in 1939 and converted it to a pottery where he produced earthenware and stoneware pottery. After his death his son

Seth Cardew Seth Cardew (11 November 1934 – 2 February 2016) was an English studio Pottery, potter. He was the eldest son of fellow potter Michael Cardew and the brother of the composer Cornelius Cardew. Cardew was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. ...

carried on the tradition until 2005 when he relocated to Spain.

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, have been held at Wenfordbridge.Cornish Guardian - Friday 24 November 1905.

The bridge at Wenfordbridge

The bridge over the

at Wenfordbridge is grade 2 listed being one of six on the river, the largest number of listed bridges on any Cornish river.

References

Hamlets in Cornwall Bridges in Cornwall {{Cornwall-geo-stub