Sandplace ( kw, Tewesva) is a small village in the parish of Morval, two miles north of

Looe Looe (; kw, Logh, ) is a coastal town and civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, with a population of 5,280 at the 2011 census. Looe is west of Plymouth and south of Liskeard, divided in two by the River Looe, East Looe ( kw, links ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. It is situated on the B3254, the old

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...

to Looe road which joins the A387 to the south. The village is alongside the East Looe river and has been served by Sandplace railway station, on the

Looe Valley Line The Looe Valley Line is an community railway from Liskeard to Looe in Cornwall, United Kingdom, that follows the valley of the East Looe River for much of its course. It is operated by Great Western Railway. History The Looe Valley Line was ...

since 1881.

History

Sandplace gets its name from a wharf on the river bank where sea-sand was stored, which together with lime (imported from Plymouth and burnt in nearby kilns) was used to improve the acid soils of the area. The fertiliser was transported north out of the village on the Liskeard and Looe Union Canal which was completed in 1828. With the exploitation of copper and tin ores in the Caradon area from 1836 onwards, and the opening of the

Liskeard and Caradon Railway The Liskeard and Caradon Railway was a mineral railway in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, which opened in 1844. It was built to carry the ores of copper and tin, and also granite, from their sources on Caradon Hill down to Moorswater for onwar ...

in 1844, the canal was not able to cope with the traffic and congestion meant that trade was being lost to competing routes via Calstock and St Germans. A railway line was opened for goods between Moorswater and Looe on 27 December 1860 and the canal went into gradual decline finally closing in 1910. Within the village is a coaching inn which was built in around 1740 and is now the Polraen Country House Hotel. It was formerly owned by the Morval Estate which sold it to

Peter Bessell Peter Joseph Bessell (24 August 1921 – 27 November 1985) was a British Liberal Party politician, and Member of Parliament for Bodmin in Cornwall from 1964 to 1970. Early life Bessell was educated at Lynwyd School, Bath, Somerset, and was a C ...

the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP for the Bodmin constituency. Bessell fled abroad in 1970 to avoid debts from a number of unsuccessful companies.

References

{{authority control Villages in Cornwall Ports and harbours of Cornwall Lime kilns in the United Kingdom