History of the River Tamar

People have lived in and around the Tamar valley since the Stone Age, and interested historians can find evidence of Stone and Bronze Age settlements at Kit Hill, on the Cornish side of the river.

The passing centuries have seen people use the Tamar in increasingly sophisticated ways. Minerals were once transported down river from mines in areas like Lopwell, Bere Alston and Morwellham to the sea. This supported the mining industry for some considerable time, until the advent of the railways and Brunel's pioneering Royal Albert Bridge.

Bridges have a large part to play in the story of the Tamar. Tourists delight in the pretty medieval stone arch bridges which criss-cross the length of the river, but more remarkable is the feat of Victorian engineering achieved by Isambard Kingdon Brunel in 1859. The Royal Albert Bridge was built to carry the weight of three express trains, and its construction made Cornwall easily accessible to tourists from all over the country. Over 100 years later, the opening of the Tamar Road Bridge once again opened up Cornwall to visitors.