The area of Saltash that is known as Waterside has been inhabited for at least a thousand years. The site lay within the Saxon manor of Trematon, at a place where a major highway crossed the Tamar estuary by means of a ferry (which belonged to the manor). One of the factors that determined the location of the ferry was the existence of a hard beach interrupting the estuarial mud on the Cornish side. The northern end of the beach was protected by a great rock (called Ashtor) which protruded into the estuary.

The first settlement at Ash (Saltash's original name) probably consisted of a few ferrymen's and fishermen's dwellings lining the foreshore behind the beach. It is likely that the present-day alignment of Tamar Street represents the course of a track which ran in front of those houses. No doubt the highway ascended the hill by the route that is now Culver Road.

In the 12th century this small community was absorbed when the Norman lord of Trematon Castle founded a borough on the adjoining hillside. The new market town quickly developed as a port. Accordingly various mercantile activities evolved on the waterfront, and Saltash was entrusted with 'silver oar' jurisdiction over the estuaries of the Tamar and its tributaries together with Plymouth Sound. Although the town of Sutton (later name: Plymouth) eclipsed Saltash by the end of the 13th century, Saltash continued to prosper. It had some advantages: Saltash Reach in the Tamar was a good deep-water anchorage for large ships at all states of the tide, and it was a safe five miles from the open sea.

Saltash merchants operated a small fleet of ocean-going vessels crewed by local men. Their ships were requisitioned for war service on various occasions during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. In 1588 the John Trelawney joined the fleet opposing the Spanish Armada. In the 15th century the Thomas of Saltash carried pilgrims to Compostela, and the Nicholas traded as far as N.E. Norway (well inside the Arctic Circle). In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, ships from Saltash took cargoes of pilchards to the Mediterranean, risking capture by Barbary Coast corsairs. Two Saltash mariners were held to ransom in Morocco for several years were being redeemed in 1637.

In 1568 the inhabitants of Waterside were excited when two Spanish treasure ships were seized and unloaded there; 64 chests of silver coins were brought ashore. There was an even greater spectacle for Saltashers in 1587, when Sir Francis Drake brought up river the great carrack San Felipe (a prize seized by him off the Azores). She was laden with calicoes, silks and spices. as well as chests of jewels. gold plate, etc. All the cargo was discharged and inventoried at Saltash; its total value was the equivalent of £20,000,000 in today's money.

Fishing was always an important pursuit for the men of Waterside. For centuries the estuaries abounded with many kinds of fish, including herring. Saltash oysters were famous; cockles and other shellfish were consumed in great quantities.

Growth in fishing, shipping, other commercial activities, and the population, resulted in many changes on the waterfront. Fish cellars ('palaces') were constructed; a shipbuilding yard was in existence by 1545; the Town Quay was built (or re-built) circa 1586; dwellings were erected on the beach side of Tamar Street before the end of the 16th century, Early in the 17th century there was a northward expansion when Sand Quay was created by placing fill on an area of mud. Barges carrying sea-sand for dressing arable land were unloaded at the quay; boat-building began there later (Jubilee Green now covers the site).

Because of its strategic position, Saltash saw plenty of action in the Civil War of 1642-46. A Royalist battery was constructed at the southern end of Waterside; Parliamentarian ships from Plymouth bombarded it and the town. There was fighting and slaughter in the streets on several occasions as troops, attacking or fleeing, struggled to cross the estuary. Many buildings were destroyed or ruined; it took Saltash a hundred years to fully recover.

'Spin-offs' from the growth of the Royal Naval Dockyard three miles downstream were factors in Saltash's resurgence during the second half of the 18th century. Two sloops were built for the Navy at Waterside in 1757 and 1758.

By the beginning of the 19th century. Waterside was a vibrant community again. Inbred skills ensured that its men and women were seldom out-rowed at local regattas (including Saltash Regatta, founded in 1835). The most famous of these rowers was the redoubtable Mrs Ann Glanville. Between 1830 and 1850, at regattas all over England (and one in France) she and her crews of Saltash women were rarely beaten in 4-oared gig races. even against men.

There were many developments at Waterside in the 19th century. In 1832 a steam-powered 'floating bridge' running along chains was installed at Saltash Ferry. In 1834 access to the ferry was much improved by the construction of a turnpike road (now Old Ferry Road). Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge was completed in 1859 (one of its main piers stands on Ashtor rock). For 70 years from 1858 a fleet of steamers operated from Waterside. The vessels provided regular passenger-ferry and market-produce services as well as working the excursion trade, which reached phenomenal levels during the period 1880-1914. These advances in transport brought many visitors to Waterside, creating a lively atmosphere. In Tamar Street there were numerous shellfish shops, which gave rise to the street's nickname: Picklecock Alley (a 'picklecock' was a pickled cockle). Circa 1840, a few houses were built at Sand Quay; more were erected in that area circa 1880 (Brunel Terrace etc.).

Industrial undertakings on the waterfront included lime-kilns, a brewery, a gas-works, a foundry. a quarry, builder's merchants and coal merchants. Some of these concerns continued well into the 20th century. The Rustic Tea Gardens near Sand Quay were opened in 1906 and ran for over 20 years. Boat-building was revived circa 1925 and lasted for ten years or so. A large creamery and haulage depot operated from 1932 to 1973. Of the multitude of business activities once associated with Waterside, only three exist today: fishing, inn-keeping and sailing.

For a number of reasons. by the 1950s many of the buildings in the oldest part of Waterside were in a very bad state of repair. Saltash Borough Council considered the problem and decided that the only solution was a slum clearance and redevelopment scheme, for which large government grants were available. (In the 'New Elizabethan Age' it was national policy to sweep away anything old; no funds were allocated to conservation.) Accordingly, demolition of almost all the dwellings in that area took place in stages from 1957 to 1966. The Minister of Housing and Local Government, the Rt. Hon. Henry Brooke, personally opened the first replacements in 1960.

The three Waterside inns survived the clearance, although the demolition of the portion of the Passage House Inn (now The Boatman) which spanned Tamar Street was inexcusable. Built in 1595, it was depicted by Turner circa 1812 (the painting is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).

Thanks to its reputation as the home of Sir Francis Drake's first wife, "Mary Newman's Cottage" in Culver Road was one of the few dwellings to escape demolition. Unfortunately, that reputation is unwarranted, but the building is certainly of great antiquity. The structure dates from circa 1500; it is the oldest house remaining in the town. (A predecessor on the same site, together with the long back garden, formed one of the burgage plots laid out when the borough was founded in the 12th century.) The "cottage" is in fact a rare survival of an early merchant's house. The mistaken association with Mary Newman is derived from a work of fiction published in 1865. All the documentary evidence shows that Mary Newman and her family resided in the parish of St Budeaux, which lies on the opposite side of the Tamar estuary. However, the remarkable intrinsic interest of the house compensates for the loss of a bogus tradition. The house and garden have been painstakingly restored by the Tamar Protection Society, and have been opened to the public since 1984.