Editing Truro (section)

==History==
A castle was built in the 12th century by [[Richard de Luci]], Chief Justice of England in the reign of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], who for court services was granted land in Cornwall, including the area round the confluence of the two rivers. The town grew below the castle and gained borough status from further economic activity. The castle has long disappeared.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/277.html |title=Truro Castle Hill |publisher=The Gatehouse Gazetteer |access-date=25 May 2021 |archive-date=25 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525160415/http://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/277.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Richard de Lucy fought in Cornwall under Count Alan of Brittany after leaving Falaise late in 1138. The small [[adulterine castle]] at Truro, Cornwall, originally the parish of Kenwyn, later known as "Castellum de Guelon", was probably built by him in 1139–1140. He styled himself "Richard de Lucy, de Trivereu". The castle passed to [[Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall|Reginald FitzRoy]], an illegitimate son of Henry I, when he was invested by King Stephen as the first Earl of Cornwall. Reginald married Mabel FitzRichard, daughter of William FitzRichard, a major landholder in Cornwall. The {{convert|75|ft|adj=on|abbr=out}}-diameter castle was in ruins by 1270 and the motte was levelled in 1840. Today [[Truro Crown Court]] stands on the site. In a charter of about 1170, Reginald FitzRoy confirmed to Truro's burgesses the privileges granted by Richard de Lucy. Richard held ten [[knight's fee|knights' fees]] in Cornwall before 1135. At his death the county still accounted for a third of his considerable total holding.<ref>De Lucy in the 12th century, Norman Lucey 2009 [lucey.net/webpage62.htm].</ref>

By the early 14th century Truro was a major port, due to an inland location away from invaders, to prosperity from the fishing industry, and to a role as a [[stannary]] town for assaying and stamping [[tin]] and copper from Cornish mines. The [[Black Death]] brought a trade [[recession]] and an exodus that left the town in a very neglected state. Trade and prosperity gradually returned in the [[Tudors|Tudor]] period. Local government came in 1589 with a new charter of [[Elizabeth I]] giving it an elected mayor and control over the port of [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/constituencies/truro |title=Truro |publisher=History of Parliament |access-date=25 May 2021 |archive-date=25 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525160605/https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/constituencies/truro |url-status=live}}</ref>

During the [[English Civil War|Civil War]] in the 17th century, Truro raised a sizeable force to fight for the king and a royalist mint was set up. Defeat by Parliamentary troops came after the [[Battle of Naseby]] in 1646, when the victorious General Fairfax led his army south-west to relieve Taunton and capture the Royalist-held [[West Country]]. The Royalist forces surrendered at Truro while leading Royalist commanders, including [[Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton|Lord Hopton]], the [[Charles II of England|Prince of Wales]], [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Sir Edward Hyde]], and [[Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham|Lord Capell]], fled to Jersey from Falmouth.<ref name="lewis">{{Cite web |title=Trudox-Hill – Trysull Pages 395–398 A Topographical Dictionary of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp395-398 |website=British History Online |access-date=14 July 2020 |archive-date=24 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200624153520/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp395-398 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Later in the century, Falmouth gained its own charter, giving rights to its harbour and starting a long rivalry with Truro. The dispute was settled in 1709 with control of the [[River Fal]] divided between them. The arms of Truro city are "Gules the base wavy of six Argent and Azure, thereon an ancient ship of three masts under sail, on each topmast a banner of St George, on the waves in base two fishes of the second."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pascoe |first=W. H. |title=A Cornish Armory |page=135 |year=1979 |publisher=Lodenek Press |location=Padstow, Cornwall |isbn=0-902899-76-7}}</ref>

[[File:Boscawen 1810.jpg|thumb|Boscawen Street in 1810]]
Truro prospered in the 18th and 19th centuries through improved mining methods and higher prices for tin, and its consequent attraction to wealthy mine-owners. Elegant [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] and [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] [[townhouses]] of the period can be seen today in Lemon Street, named after the mining magnate and local [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] Sir [[William Lemon]]. Truro became the centre for county society, even dubbed "the London of Cornwall".<ref name=londonofcornwall>{{Cite web |url=http://truro.cornwall.net/history.html |publisher=Truro Town Site |title=History of Truro |access-date=13 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410173243/http://truro.cornwall.net/history.html |archive-date=10 April 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Truro Cathedral in 1905, before completion of its spire.jpg|thumb|right|The Cathedral in 1905, before completion of the spires]]
Through those prosperous times Truro remained a social centre. Among the many notables were [[Richard Lemon Lander|Richard Lander]], the first European explorer to reach the mouth of the [[River Niger]] in Africa and was awarded the first gold medal of the [[Royal Geographical Society]], and [[Henry Martyn]], who read mathematics at Cambridge, was ordained and became a missionary, translating the New Testament into Urdu and Persian. Others include [[Humphry Davy]], educated in Truro and the inventor of the [[Davy lamp|miner's safety lamp]], and [[Samuel Foote]], an actor and playwright from Boscawen Street.<ref>Hartnoll, Phyllis. ed. ''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre''. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1983, p. 290.</ref>

Truro's importance increased later in the 19th century with an iron-smelting works, [[pottery|potteries]], and [[Tanning (leather)|tanneries]]. From the 1860s, the [[Great Western Railway]] provided a direct link to [[Paddington railway station|London Paddington]]. The [[Bishopric of Truro]] Act 1876 gave the town a bishop and later a cathedral. In 1877 it gained city status. The [[New Bridge Street drill hall, Truro|New Bridge Street drill hall]] was completed in the late 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/Search/Results?BasicSearch=51st%20light%20infantry%20&SomeSearch=51st%20light%20infantry&ExactSearch=False&Place=truro%2C%20cornwall%2C%20england&County=cornwall%2C%20england&MostSpecificLocation=truro%2C%20cornwall%2C%20england&PublicTag=classifieds&SortOrder=score&page=4 |title=Wanted, recruits for the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Young Men apply to J. G. Myners, New Bridge-street, Truro |work=Royal Cornwall Gazette |date=14 August 1890 |access-date=27 August 2017 |archive-date=28 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828021805/http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/Search/Results?BasicSearch=51st%20light%20infantry%20&SomeSearch=51st%20light%20infantry&ExactSearch=False&Place=truro%2C%20cornwall%2C%20england&County=cornwall%2C%20england&MostSpecificLocation=truro%2C%20cornwall%2C%20england&PublicTag=classifieds&SortOrder=score&page=4 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Truro was connected to the electric telegraph network in 1863 when the [[Electric Telegraph Company|Electric and International Telegraph Company]] opened stations at Truro, Redruth, Penzance, Camborne, Liskard and St Austell.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Electric and International Telegraph Co. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003586/19550407/096/0009  |newspaper=Royal Cornwall Gazette |location=England |date=18 September 1863 |access-date=23 March 2025 |via=British Newspaper Archive }}</ref>