Callington, Cornwall

Geography

The town is situated in east Cornwall between Dartmoor to the east and Bodmin Moor to the west. A former agricultural market town, it lies at the intersection of the south-north A388 Saltash to Launceston road and the east-west A390 Tavistock to Liskeard road.

Kit Hill is a mile northeast of the town and rises to 333 metres (1,093 ft) with views of Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor and the River Tamar.

The hamlets of Bowling Green, Kelly Bray, Frogwell and Downgate are in the parish.

Railway station

Callington railway station was the terminus of a branch line from Bere Alston, the junction with the Southern Railway's Tavistock to Plymouth line. The railway line beyond Gunnislake to the Callington terminus was closed in the 1960s, due to low usage and difficult operating conditions on the final sections of the line due to several severe gradients and speed restrictions. One can still travel by rail on the Tamar Valley Line from Plymouth as far as Gunnislake via Bere Alston, where trains reverse. For most of its journey the line follows the River Tamar. The nearest railway station to Callington is at Saltash.

Economy

Food manufacturers Ginsters and Tamar Foods (both wholly owned subsidiaries of Samworth Brothers) are the largest employers in the town and employ hundreds of locals as well as many immigrants who have arrived as a consequence of the recent accession to the EU of a number of Eastern European countries.

Ginsters uses local produce in many of its products, buying potatoes and other vegetables from local farmers and suppliers.

Cornwall is a predominantly low wage economy with a high proportion of its income being derived from agriculture and tourism.

History

Callington has been postulated as one of the possible locations of the ancient site of Celliwig, associated with King Arthur. Nearby ancient monuments include Castlewitch Henge with a diameter of 96m and Cadsonbury Iron Age hillfort, as well as Dupath Well built in 1510 on the site of an ancient sacred spring.

Callington was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086); the manor had 4 hides of land and land for 30 ploughs. The lord had land for 3 ploughs with 11 serfs. 24 villeins and 14 smallholders had land for 15 ploughs. There were also one and a half square leagues of pasture and a small amount of woodland. The income of the manor was £6 sterling.

In the 19th century, Callington was one of the most important mining areas in Great Britain. Deposits of silver were found nearby in Silver Valley. Today, the area is marked by mining remains, but there are no active mines. However, granite is still quarried on Hingston Down.

The former Callington constituency, a rotten borough, elected two members to the unreformed House of Commons but was abolished by the Reform Act 1832. The town is now in the South East Cornwall constituency.

St Mary's Church was originally a chapel of ease to South Hill; it was consecrated in 1438 and then had two aisles and a buttressed tower; a second north aisle was added in 1882. Unusually for Cornwall there is a clerestory; the wagon roofs are old. The parish church contains the fine brass of Nicholas Assheton and his wife, 1466.

Governance

Callington Town Council has 12 members and covers the civil parish of Callington. At the Council elections in 2013 only 10 candidates stood, 8 Independents and 2 Mebyon Kernow Councillors.

Development

In recent years, the town has seen much residential development with more, including social housing, planned for the next few years. The neighbouring village of Kelly Bray has almost doubled in size in recent years with houses still being built in the area.

Twinning

Callington is twinned with Guipavas in Brittany, France, and Barsbüttel near Hamburg in Germany. It also has unofficial friendship links with Keila in Estonia and a suburb of Malaga, Spain.

Sport

Callington is known mainly for football and cricket. Callington Town Football Club (Est 1989) has four adult teams playing in the South West Peninsula League, East Cornwall Premier League, Duchy League and South West Women's Football League. They play at Ginsters Marshfield Parc. Callington Cricket Club have three teams playing in the Cornwall Cricket League and play their games at Moores Park.