Template:Wp-Wadebridge-History

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Early history

The initial settlement of Wade (the name of Wadebridge before the bridge was built) came about due to a ford in the River Camel (Camel probably meaning "crooked one"). The early crossing had a chapel on each side of the river, "King's" chapel on the north side and "St Michael's" on the south side. People would pray for a safe crossing at one of the chapels before wading across at low tide, once they had made it the other side they would give thanks to God in the other chapel. In 1312 a licence was granted for a market at Wade by Edward II who also granted two fairs annually; on the feast of Saint Vitalis and at Michaelmas. Wade was part of the parish of St Breock and the river separated it from the neighbouring parish of Egloshayle.

At some time the ford was supplemented by a ferry until the Reverend Thomas Lovibond (the vicar of Egloshayle) became distressed at the number of humans and animals that died during the crossing of the River Camel so he planned the building of a bridge which was completed in 1468. Wade then became known as Wadebridge. When John Leland travelled through Cornwall in the early 16th century he wrote that the piers were resting on packs of wool. Begun in 1468 and completed in 1485, the bridge was traditionally known as the "Bridge on Wool" because it was reputedly built on wool sacks. In fact, however, it has been proven to be founded directly on the underlying bedrock.

The bridge was a strategic position in the English Civil War as in 1646 Oliver Cromwell came with 500 Dragoons and 1,000 horsemen to take the bridge. When the bridge was first completed tolls were charged for its maintenance. In 1853 it was widened from . A second widening took place in 1952^[1] and then in 1963 it was again widened taking it to .

Railway

The Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway from Wadebridge to Wenfordbridge with branch lines to Bodmin and Ruthernbridge was built at a cost of £35,000 following a study commissioned in 1831 by local landowner Sir William Molesworth of Pencarrow. The line was intended to carry sand from the Camel Estuary to inland farms for use as fertiliser. It was opened on 30 September 1834 with the locomotive Camel pulling a train load of 400 passengers (one of the first railways in Britain to carry passengers). When the company ordered its second locomotive it came with a name plate already affixed. It had been named the Elephant as the makers had failed to realise that the first engine had been named after the river and not an animal.

The last passenger train left Wadebridge railway station in 1967 following railway cutbacks. The railway has been transformed into the Camel Trail, and the Bodmin and Wenford Railway heritage railway runs on part of the route.

Quays

Wadebridge was the highest navigable town on the River Camel providing the main trade route before the building of the railway, and coasters would bring goods from Bristol and coal from South Wales. Timber was also imported from the Baltic,^[2] while stone from inland was sent to destination throughout England. The first locomotives used on the railway were also imported through the quay, being manufactured by Neath Abbey Ironworks,^[3] and the railway initially linked with river traffic well having been designed to distribute sand from the river to the local farms via a "sand dock" constructed upstream of the bridge at the point where the Treguddick Brook (Polmorla Brook) flows into the River Camel. This commodity, brought up from Padstow in barges, had previously been taken as far as Michaelstow and Blisland using pack animals.

In 1843 apart from the dock for the barges bringing sand for onward movement there was another dock capable of holding 5 vessels and construction of a breakwater was considered, while in 1880 there were quays on both sides of the river below the bridge with that on the west bank being served by the railway although the "sand dock" had been filled in by 1895.^[2] In the 1900s vessels such as the M.V. Florence brought cargos including slag (for fertiliser), grain and coal, and flour was also a regular cargo brought from Ranks at Avonmouth. However, in the 1950s the river silted badly so that the ketch Agnes was possibly the last vessel to bring cargo to Wadebridge when she was recorded there in 1955.^[2]

Eddystone Road

In 1877, after cracks appeared in the rock on which the Eddystone Lighthouse was positioned, a new lighthouse was commissioned from James Nicholas Douglass. Granite quarried from De Lank quarry was brought down to Wadebridge where stonemasons dovetailed each segment of stone not only to each other but also to the courses above and below. As each layer was completed and checked to fit with the layer above, it was sent out to the Eddystone rocks by sea. The lighthouse was completed in 1882. This resulted in the road where the masons worked being called Eddystone Road.

World War I

During World War I Wadebridge was home to refugees from the Netherlands and Belgium. In order to support them, a property in Park Street was converted into a Calvinist chapel.^[4]

World War II

Despite the rural nature of the area and the lack of military installations, during World War II there was a single recorded air raid when three bombs were dropped on the hill above Fernleigh Road. Residents report hearing the bombs whistling as they fell and landed in a field above the nearest houses. There were no casualties and only minor damage.^[5]