Editing Newquay (section)

==History==
=== Prehistoric period ===
There are some [[pre-historic]] [[burial mounds]] and an embankment on the area now known as ''The Barrowfields'', {{convert|400|m|yd|abbr=on}} from Trevelgue. There were once up to fifteen barrows, but now only a few remain. Excavations here have revealed charred cooking pots and a coarse pottery burial urn containing remains of a Bronze Age chieftain, who was buried here up to 3,500 years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Barrowfields |url=http://www.newquaytowncouncilcornwall.co.uk/local/?i=36 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090901051500/http://www.newquaytowncouncilcornwall.co.uk/local/?i=36 |archive-date=1 September 2009 |access-date=16 August 2013 |publisher=Newquaytowncouncilcornwall.co.uk |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 1987, evidence of a [[Bronze Age]] village was found at ''Trethellan Farm'', a site that overlooks the River Gannel.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Archaeological work at Scarcewater reveals rare & interesting finds |url=http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1143 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930030934/http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=1143 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |access-date=16 August 2013 |publisher=Cornwall County Council |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The first signs of settlement in the Newquay region consist of a late [[Iron Age]] hill fort/industrial centre which exploited the nearby abundant resources (including deposits of iron) and the superior natural defences provided by [[Trevelgue Head]]. It is claimed that occupation of the site was continuous from the 3rd century BC to the 5th or 6th century AD. A [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]] house was later built on the head.<ref>Interim account of 1939 excavation by C. K. Croft Andrew (1949)</ref>

=== Domesday Book ===
The settlement which is now known as Newquay was not mentioned in [[Domesday Book]], although a parcel of land was recorded at Treninnick, which is now part of suburban Newquay. [[Treninnick]] was then part of the manor of Coswarth and consisted of one virgate (value 15d) [some 30 acres or 12 hectares] with five sheep. The village of [[Crantock]] is the only other recognisable name in the Newquay area also recorded in Domesday Book, (as "Langoroch").<ref>Thorn, Caroline and Frank (eds). ''Domesday Book: Cornwall''. Chichester, 1979.{{ISBN|0-85033 156 0}}</ref>

=== Funds to build a ‘new quay’ ===
In 1439, [[Edmund Lacey]], [[Bishop of Exeter]] granted an [[Indulgence]] to build a new [[quay]] from which the town would later derive its modern name. However, this appeal did not succeed, and the harbour remained largely undeveloped until the early [[17th century]], although it is thought to have had a succession of short wooden piers since the [[15th century]], and possibly before that.

===Medieval to Early Modern period ===
[[File:Map showing the settlement now part of Newquay.png|thumb|267x267px|left|The settlements of Towan and 'New Key']]
The origins of modern Newquay can be traced back to the [[Middle Ages|medieval period]] to a small cluster of cottages known as "Towan,"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lysons |first=Daniel |title=Magna Britannia; being a concise topographical account of the several counties of Great Britain. With copious illustrations. vol. 1-6. L.P. (Volume 03) |publisher=[[Cadell & Davies]] |year=1806–22 |location=London |publication-place=United Kingdom |pages=66}}</ref> located where the Central Inn now stands. About 200 meters (660 feet) away was another settlement called "New Quay," referring to a small harbour within the Manor of Towan Blystra.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dugdale |first=James |title=The New British Traveller, or, modern panorama of England and Wales; exhibiting ... an ... account ... of the most important portion of the British Empire ... Illustrated by ... maps, views of public buildings, antiquities, etc. (Volume 01) |publisher=J.Robins and Co |year=1819 |location=[[London]] |pages=424}}</ref> Despite occasional confusion, "Towan Blystra" is not a Cornish equivalent of Newquay, and there is no historical record of the name "Newquay" being rendered in [[Cornish language|Cornish]].<ref name=":6">Teague Husband, S. (1923) ''Old Newquay''. Redruth: Dyllansow Truran {{ISBN|0-907566-86-3}}</ref> The two settlements were connected by a track that eventually became today's Fore Street. The local economy at the time relied primarily on fishing, agriculture, and some [[mining]] activity

The earliest mention of a fish market in the area dates back to 1571, found in the Arundell papers.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=2003 |title=Cornwall & Scilly Urban Survey – Historic characterisation for regeneration: Newquay |url=http://newquayplan.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/csus_newquay_report.pdf |access-date=September 24, 2024 }}</ref> It is believed that this market may have been located in what is now Central Square, though fish trading also likely took place directly at the quay and in nearby cellars.<ref name=":8" /> The public house later known as 'The Central' (rebuilt in 1859) became a hub of local trade, with farmers parking wagons of grain in the square and conducting business inside the inn.<ref name=":8" />

[[Richard Carew (antiquary)|Richard Carew]]’s [[Survey of Cornwall]], published in 1602, includes the lines: “Neyther may I omit newe Kaye, a place in the North coast of this Hundred, so called, because in former times, the neighbours attempted, to supplie the defect of nature, by Art, in making there a Kay, for the Rode of shipping, which conceyt they still retayne, though want of means in themselves, or the place, have left the effect in Nubibus [unfulfilled].”<ref>{{cite book |last=Carew |first=Richard |title=The Survey of Cornwall, Book 2 |publisher=John Jaggard |year=1602 |edition=1st |series= |location=London |page=}}</ref>

In 1615 Thomas Stuer, who was [[Lord of the manor|Lord of the Manor]], applied for permission to build a single pier, and the development of the modern harbour then began.

=== The Huer's Hut ===
[[File:Huers house.jpg|thumb|Huer's hut, Newquay]]
The [[Huer's Hut]] at Newquay, Cornwall served as a lookout point from which a man known as a [[Conder (fishing)|huer]] could keep watch for the arrival of the pilchards. They could be discerned by the water turning a dark reddish-brown and by the flocks of seagulls which dived down to feed on the fish. The huer would announce the arrival by shouting "hevva, hevva" or through the use of a trumpet after which he would direct the townsfolk to the fish by waving tree branches above his head. The word huer has the same derivation as the "hue" in [[hue and cry]], after this action.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Huer's Hut Newquay |url=https://www.visitnewquay.org/explore/huers-hut |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=www.visitnewquay.org}}</ref>

The Huer's Hut at Newquay has been described as "a particularly fine late mediaeval specimen". The [[listed building]] description states that the current structure dates from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, though a plaque on the structure claims [[14th century|14th-century]] origins. The plaque also states that the structure may have been used at an earlier time as a [[Hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]] and [[lighthouse]].<ref name=":3" />

The structure was restored in 1836, at which point the fireplace may have been significantly altered. It received protection as a listed building (under the name "Huer's House") on 24 October 1951 and is currently categorised as [[grade II*]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=SeaDogIT |title=The Huer's Hut |url=https://www.cornwallheritagetrust.org/commemorative_plaque/the-huers-hut/ |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=Cornwall Heritage Trust |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=HUER'S HOUSE, Newquay - 1144136 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1144136 |access-date=2023-08-27 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}</ref>

=== Central Inn ===
[[File:The Central, Newquay - geograph.org.uk - 3959303.jpg|thumb|220x220px|Central Inn in 2014]]
The origins of the original inn on the site of the present Central Inn are unclear. An inn was recorded on this site in 1755,<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Greenham |first=Joyce |title=Images of England: Newquay |last2=Harper |first2=Shelia |publisher=[[Tempus Publishing Limited]] |year=1999 |isbn=0752418270 |pages=37}}</ref> which was probably built of freestone and topped with a thatched roof, later slate. It served as an early place of trade.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beacham |first=Peter |title=The Buildings of England: Cornwall |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=9780300126686 |location=London |pages=382}}</ref> In her publication "Old Newquay," Sarah Teague Husband described the inn in the 1850s as being "two or three hundred years old" and in a state of disrepair,.<ref name=":6" />

The inn was rebuilt in 1859, and was known as the Commercial Inn until early in the 20th century.<ref name=":7" />

=== Dr William Borlase visit in 1755 ===
[[William Borlase|Dr William Borlase]], who was a Cornish [[antiquarian]] and the [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|Rector]] of [[Ludgvan]], visited Towan Blystra in 1755 during a tour of Cornwall. He wrote: <blockquote>"Passed the Ganel and went about a mile further to a place of about twelve houses called Towan Blystra, a furlong further to the New Quay in [[St Columb Minor|St Columb Parish]], here is a little pier, the north point of which is fixed on a rock, the end in a cliff; at the eastern end there is a gap cult [cut] about 25 feet wide into the slaty rock of the cliff: This gap lets small ships into a basin which may hold about six ships of about 80 tons burthen and at spring tides has 18 feet of water in it, upon the brow of the cliff is a dwelling house and a commodious cellar lately built."
<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lyon |first=Rod |title=Early Newquay|publisher= |year=1991 |isbn= |edition=1st |location=United Kingdom |language=English}}</ref></blockquote>The dwelling house mentioned by Borlase is believed to be referring to 'Quay House' one of the oldest building in the town, the Newquay edition of the Homeland Handbooks book (1931) described it as having a "''picturesque front and low grey roof may be observed beyond a gate marked 'Private'.''"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goddard |first=Fanny |title=The Homeland Handbooks: Newquay (Cornwall) |last2=Cresswell |first2=Beatrix F |publisher=The Homeland Association LTD |year=1931 |volume=27 |location=[[London]] |pages=10}}</ref>

=== 19th century ===
{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2021}}
[[File:Newquay , Newquay Golf Club Clubhouse - geograph.org.uk - 2605794.jpg|thumb|The tower, now Newquay Golf Club]]
The first national British census of 1801 recorded around 1,300 inhabitants in the settlement which would have include the small settlements which would become Newquay (enumerated as a village under [[St Columb Minor]] parish).

In 1832 the London-based entrepreneur [[Richard Lomax]] bought the manor of Towan Blystra. This included the small harbour at what was becoming known as New Quay.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-14 |title=The Early Development of Newquay to c1900 |url=https://www.cornwallheritage.com/youtube-social-media/discovering-cornwall-the-early-development-of-newquay-to-c1900/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |language=en}}</ref>

The proposal included a description of New Quay and Towan and the unpaved track between the settlements. It also showed some buildings including an inn, (this was rebuilt in 1859 and is now known as The Central), cottages along what would become Bank Street and other structures connected with the fishing industry, such as the cellars, where the fish were dried and packed in barrels. Lomax began the construction of the north and south quay, but he died in 1837 before his harbour had been completed.

The harbour was at its most prosperous in the 25 years following its purchase in the 1870s by the [[Cornwall Minerals Railway]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cornwall Minerals Railway - Graces Guide|url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Cornwall_Minerals_Railway|access-date=2021-12-22|website=www.gracesguide.co.uk}}</ref> In 1872 the middle jetty was added to expand capacity.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ertach Kernow – Visionary who engineered a great chapter in Cornish history – Association for Cornish Heritage|url=https://www.cornwallheritage.com/news-blogs/ertach-kernow-blogs/ertach-kernow-visionary-who-engineered-a-great-chapter-in-cornish-history-2/|access-date=2021-12-22|language=en-GB|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222150945/https://www.cornwallheritage.com/news-blogs/ertach-kernow-blogs/ertach-kernow-visionary-who-engineered-a-great-chapter-in-cornish-history-2/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

To the north of the harbour there were [[Fish collar|fish cellars]] in the 19th century, where pilchards were salted and packed in casks. The two remaining areas are Fly cellars and Active cellars, although the others have disappeared.

A mansion called the Tower was built for the Molesworth family in 1835: it included a castellated tower and a private chapel as they were [[Roman Catholics]] and no church for that denomination existed in the area. The Tower later became the golf club house.<ref>Pevsner, N. (1970) ''Cornwall''; 2nd ed. Penguin Books; p. 126</ref> After the arrival of passenger trains in June 1876, the town started to develop with many rows of private houses and hotels began to emerge.

=== Victorian Hotels ===
[[File:Great Western Hotel, Newquay - geograph.org.uk - 1592134.jpg|thumb|Great Western Hotel]]Several major hotels were built around the end of the 19th century, the first being the [[Great Western Hotel (Newquay)|Great Western Hotel]] which opened in 1879 on Station Road, now Cliff Road. The original hotel was rebuilt in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Step into our history: The Great Western {{!}} Stay in Newquay {{!}} Pub History {{!}} St Austell Brewery |url=https://staustellbrewery.co.uk/2022/july/step-into-our-history-the-great-western/ |access-date=2022-07-16 |website=staustellbrewery.co.uk |archive-date=11 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711090726/https://staustellbrewery.co.uk/2022/july/step-into-our-history-the-great-western/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other early first-class hotels included the [[Hotel Victoria, Newquay|Victoria]] (1899), the [[Atlantic Hotel, Newquay|Atlantic]] (1892) and the [[Headland Hotel|Headland]] (1900) near [[Fistral Beach|Fistral]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=bwdeacon |date=2020-07-07 |title=Tourism: cure or curse? |url=https://bernarddeacon.com/2020/07/07/tourism-cure-or-curse/ |access-date=2022-07-16 |website=Cornish studies resources |language=en}}</ref> Many smaller hotels were also being opened. Some were created around the turn of the century by converting large houses, many of which had been built originally by [[wealth]]y visitors as [[holiday homes]], particularly along Narrowcliff.

===20th century===
[[File:Cross near Headland Hotel (5963).jpg|thumb|Newquay war memorial]]
Three churches were built early in the twentieth century, including the present day [[Newquay Parish Church of St Michael the Archangel|parish church of St Michael the Archangel]], which was consecrated in 1911. Growth of the town eastwards soon reached the area around the [[Newquay railway station|railway station]]: Station Road became Cliff Road around 1930, and the houses beyond, along Narrowcliff, were also converted into hotels. Narrowcliff was known for a while as Narrowcliff Promenade, and then Narrowcliff Road. On some pre-war maps, it is spelt Narrowcliffe.

At the time of the [[First World War]] the last buildings at the edge of the town were a little further along present-day Narrowcliff. Post-war development saw new houses and streets built in the Chester Road area, accompanied by ribbon development along the country lane which led to St Columb Minor, some {{convert|2|mi|km|0}} away. This thoroughfare was modernised and named Henver Road, also some time in the 1930s. Development continued in this direction until the [[Second World War]], by which time much of Henver Road had houses on both sides, with considerable infilling also taking place between there and the sea.

A thriving knitting industry became established in Newquay in the early part of the 20th century. In 1905, Madame Hawke began selling machine-knitted garments in a shop in the centre of the town. [[Debenhams]] was sent a sample of her work and commissioned her as a supplier. She opened a factory in Crantock Street, which has since been converted into housing. Several competing knitting companies were also set up in the town in this period.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Newquay Knitting Factories |url=http://newquayoldcornwall.org.uk/industry/knitting.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727181226/http://newquayoldcornwall.org.uk/industry/knitting.php |archive-date=27 July 2018 |access-date=27 July 2018 |publisher=Newquay Old Cornwall Society}}</ref>

In the early 1950s, the last houses were built along Henver Road. After that, there was a virtually continuous building line on both sides of the main road from the other side of [[St Columb Minor]] right into the town centre. The Doublestiles estate to the north of Henver Road was also built in the early 1950s, as the name of Coronation Way indicates, and further development continued beyond, becoming the Lewarne Estate and extending the built up area to the edges of Porth.

Other areas also developed in the period between the wars were Pentire (known for a time as West Newquay) and the Trenance Valley. Other streets dating from the 1920s included St Thomas Road, which provided the approach to the town's new cottage hospital at its far end, to be followed by others in the same area near the station, such as Pargolla Road.

More recent development has been on a larger scale: until the late 1960s, a passenger arriving by train would not have seen a building by the line (with the exception of Trencreek village) until the Trenance Viaduct was reached. Today, the urban area starts a good {{convert|1.5|mi|km|0}} inland from the viaduct. Other growth areas have been on the fringes of St Columb Minor and also towards the Gannel. More development beyond Treninnick, south of the Trenance Valley, has taken the urban area out as far as Lane, where more building is now under way. The Trennnick/Treloggan development, mainly in the 1970s and 1980s, included not merely housing but also an industrial estate and several large commercial outlets, including a major supermarket and a cash and carry warehouse.

===21st century===
One of the worst hotel fires in Britain for many years occurred in 2007 at the [[Penhallow Hotel fire|Penhallow hotel]], which overlooked Towan beach. Three people were killed because the hotel management had not complied with fire safety standards.<ref>{{cite news |title=Newquay's Penhallow 'worst UK hotel fire in 40 years' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-13277198 |access-date=4 January 2022 |work=BBC News |date=4 May 2011}}</ref> The building was later demolished and replaced by a new structure.

The first phase of a new [[Duchy of Cornwall]] development began to be built in 2012 at Tregunnel Hill, which was sometimes unofficially called Surfbury after the similar Poundbury development in Dorset. It has 174 houses of traditional designs.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 16, 2012 |title=Work due to start on 'Surfbury' scheme |work=Western Morning News |publisher=Local World |url=http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/work-start-surfbury-scheme/story-16097105-detail/story.html |access-date=9 August 2016}}{{Dead link|date=August 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

There is now a similar but much more substantial development in progress inland, and construction on a large site known as [[Nansledan]] ('broad valley' in Cornish) is now well under way, mainly west of the Quintrell Road. Plans were approved for the development of 800 homes at Nansledan in December 2013,<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 December 2013 |title=Duchy of Cornwall plans for 800 Newquay homes approved |work=BBC.com |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-25464014 |url-status=live |access-date=9 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919135037/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-25464014 |archive-date=19 September 2016}}</ref> but the plan now includes more than 4,000 homes, shops, a supermarket, church and a 14-classroom primary school which opened to its first pupils in September 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 March 2018 |title=Duke of Cornwall unveils name of Nansledan primary school |url=http://www.nansledan.com/duke-cornwall-unveils-name-nansledan-primary-school/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718174512/http://nansledan.com/duke-cornwall-unveils-name-nansledan-primary-school/ |archive-date=18 July 2018 |access-date=18 July 2018 |website=Nansledan official website}}</ref> Following the example set at Tregunnel Hill, the buildings are again of traditional designs and all street names are in Cornish.

Places like Trencreek, Porth and St Columb Minor have long since become suburbs of Newquay: it had been reported that it was possible that by the 2030s, should present development trends continue, the south eastern edge of the town could stretch beyond the present boundary set by Nansledan and encompass [[Quintrell Downs]], {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} from the town centre.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 February 2017 |title=How long will it be until Newquay and Quintrell Downs adjoin? |work=Cornwall Live |url=http://www.cornwalllive.com/latest-homes-plans-begs-the-question-how-long-will-it-be-until-newquay-and-quintrell-downs-adjoin/story-30109475-detail/story.html |url-status=dead |access-date=22 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206131950/http://www.cornwalllive.com/latest-homes-plans-begs-the-question-how-long-will-it-be-until-newquay-and-quintrell-downs-adjoin/story-30109475-detail/story.html |archive-date=6 February 2017}}</ref> However, the Newquay Neighbourhood Development Plan, which was approved in a referendum held on 6 April 2019, said it was important to retain a 'green buffer' between Newquay and Quintrell Downs.

In April 2012 the [[Aerohub]] enterprise zone for aerospace businesses was set up at [[Newquay Airport]]. In September 2014, the UK's [[Homes and Communities Agency]] and the [[European Regional Development Fund]] agreed to fund the construction of a £6&nbsp;million Aerohub Business Park there.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 September 2014 |title=Aerohub business park at Newquay Airport to gain £6m investment |work=BBC News Online |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-29075623 |url-status=live |access-date=7 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028130716/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-29075623 |archive-date=28 October 2014}}</ref> A plan to launch space vehicles from a new spaceport alongside the airport moved ahead in July 2018 when a contract was signed with [[Virgin Orbit]]. The first launch from the spaceport, named [[Spaceport Cornwall]], took place on 9 January 2023. The initial launch of the [[LauncherOne]] rocket from the carrier aircraft, ''Cosmic Girl'', was successful but the rocket's second stage suffered an anomaly and the vehicle and payload satellites failed to reach orbit.<ref name="firstspacelaunch1">{{cite web |title=UK space mission fails after rocket 'anomaly' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-64215127 |website=BBC News |date=9 January 2023 |access-date=10 January 2023}}</ref><ref name="firstspacelaunch2">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64218883 | title=UK space launch: Historic Cornwall rocket launch ends in failure | date=10 January 2023 | publisher=BBC News |access-date=January 10, 2023}}</ref>