Torpoint War Memorial
Torpoint shown within Cornwall
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|Sovereign state||United Kingdom|
|Police||Devon and Cornwall|
|EU Parliament||South West England|
|UK Parliament||South East Cornwall|
Torpoint (Cornish: Penntorr) is a civil parish and town on the Rame Peninsula in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated opposite the city of Plymouth across the Hamoaze which is the tidal estuary of the River Tamar.
Torpoint has a population of 8,457 (2001 census). In the Cornish language Torpoint is called Penntorr (local folk band Pentorr have taken their name from this).
Torpoint is linked to Plymouth (and Devonport) by the Torpoint Ferry. 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".
Torpoint is an eighteenth-century planned town. The grid-based design for the town was commissioned by Reginald Pole Carew in the Parish of Antony in 1774. His family continued to have a strong influence in the area, having become the Carew Poles, and still reside at their family seat, Antony House.
Due to the presence of Devonport Dockyard, the town grew as Dockyard workers settled there. The establishment of the Royal Navy's main training facility, HMS Raleigh also increased the population of Torpoint.
Notable people from Torpoint
John Langdon Down was born in Torpoint in 1828, he later described the 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.
Educational institutions in Torpoint include:
- Torpoint Infant School — a medium-large infant school.
- Carbeile Junior School — a large primary school.
- Torpoint Community College, The Humanities College for South East Cornwall — the only humanities college in south east Cornwall.
Sport and leisure
- Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 Plymouth & Launceston ISBN 978-0-319-23146-3
- MIlls, A. D. (1996). The Popular Dictionary of English Place-names. Parragon Book Service Ltd and Magpie Books. p. 332. ISBN 0-7525-1851-8.
- "History of Torpoint". Torpoint Town council. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- "Education". Torpoint Town Council. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- "About Us". Torpoint & District Twinning Association. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
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