Saltash History and Heritage
Liberty of the Waters Tamar
The Liberty was a jurisdiction administered by the Saltash Corporation from medieval times until 1886. It covered Plymouth Sound and the whole estuary system, apart from Sutton Pool and the River Plym above Prince Rock (near the present-day Laira Bridge).
Within this extensive area, Saltash controlled various activities, such as fisheries (including the oysterage) and the collection of dues for anchorage, buoyage, etc. The Mayor of Saltash held inquests on all dead bodies found in the Liberty. The Town Sergeant carried out arrests on board ships.
In the 18th century the Port Dues payable were as follows: British vessels, 1 shilling (the Royal Navy was exempt), Foreign vessels, 2 shillings, except Spanish ships, for whom the rate was 6 shillings! (probably due to the War of Jenkins’ Ear, 1739−1748).
Northwards, the Liberty extended to Okeltor, a mile above Calstock. In this view of the Tamar, looking south in 1972, the Liberty’s boundary mark is carved on the rock that protrudes from the right-hand bank, near a building.
Within this extensive area, Saltash controlled various
activities, such as fisheries (including the oysterage)
and the collection of dues for anchorage, buoyage,
etc. The Mayor of Saltash held inquests on all dead
bodies found in the Liberty; the Town Sergeant
carried out arrests on board ships.
The great expansion of Plymouth and Devonport
meant that eventually this situation became untenable.
Accordingly the Liberty was terminated in 1886, when
Saltash received a new borough charter. However,
the collection of port dues was permitted until 1901.
The Liberty was a jurisdiction administered by Saltash Corporation from medieval times until 1886.
Its physical limits were defined by certain rocks and headlands. Their positions are marked on the map by red letters, as follows.
A Tamar estuary - Okeltor
B Tavy estuary - Old Man's Beard
C Plym estuary (Cattewater) - Prince Rock
D Plymouth Sound, east side - Shag Stone
E Plymouth Sound, west side - Penlee Point
F Tiddy estuary - Cuddenbeak
G Lynher estuary - Cumble Tor
(Sutton Pool, Plymouth, was not included!)
At Okeltor the letters “SB”, meaning Saltash Boundary, are cut into the rock-face to indicate the former limit of the town’s jurisdiction over the Liberty of the Water Tamar.
Their form is a rare combination of a normal mace-head and an oar-shaped shaft, the latter symbolizing the borough’s authority over the ‘Liberty of the Water Tamar’.
One mace (above left) is dated 1623 and also bears the initials of Edmund Herring, then Mayor. Another mace (above right) was obtained during the reign if Charles I (1625-49).
Some other English towns which exercised jurisdiction over estuaries possess oar-maces, but Saltash’s are the oldest in the country
In 1760 following victory in a legal case, members of Saltash Corporation decided to exercise with renewed vigour their right to collect Anchorage and Buoyage dues within the Liberty of the Water Tamar. They appointed a new Collector and provided him with a pocket-size silver oar-.mace (left) as a symbol of authority.