Newquay (/ˈnjuːki/ NEW-kee; Standard Written Form: Tewynblustri)[citation needed] is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

The town has been expanding inland (south) since the former fishing village of New Quay began to grow in the second half of the nineteenth century.

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.

[9] 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.

The origins of modern Newquay can be traced back to the medieval period to a small cluster of cottages known as "Towan,"[10] located where the Central Inn now stands.

[13] 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.

[13] 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].”[14] In 1615 Thomas Stuer, who was Lord of the Manor, applied for permission to build a single pier, and the development of the modern harbour then began.

He wrote: "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 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."

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.

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.

[30] 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.

[34] 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 Member of Parliament for St Austell and Newquay is Noah Law (Labour), who won the seat in the General Election of 4 July 2024.

[51] Arthur Mee, in his Cornwall volume of the King's England series, describes the perpetual light maintained in the church as a memorial to the men of Newquay who died in the First World War.

The stained glass windows and rood screen are also described: the main themes are St Michael, the three other archangels, and Jesus Christ and Mary the Blessed Virgin.

[54] During the 20th century the town developed in sections, Trenance Leisure Gardens are in a wooded, formerly marshy valley on the quieter edge of Newquay, stretching down to the Gannel Estuary.

[56] Other events in recent times have included the large Boardmasters music festival, which attracts another 50,000 visitors over one weekend in early August and is held on sites at Watergate Bay (outside the urban area) and Fistral Beach.

[57] Newquay Discovery Trail[58] is made up of 14 Cornish slate discs, each 1 metre (39 inches) in diameter, sunk into the ground at strategic points around the town.

A new centre of higher education for Newquay had been planned alongside the Airport and Spaceport (see Transport) in 2020, to be known as the International Aviation Academy and attached to RAF St Mawgan.

Recruits were taught basic flying theory and service protocols, and were sorted into their likely future RAF trades, such as Pilots, Observers, Navigators, Wireless operators, and air gunners.

In addition, the airport at Newquay is one of ten UK bases for the Search and Rescue service, which is run by Bristow Helicopters on behalf of His Majesty's Coastguard.

The originally wooden viaduct just outside the station, which crosses the Trenance Valley, was rebuilt in 1874 to allow locomotives to run over the structure and then again just before World War II to carry double track, which extended until 1964 for approximately 1,500 m (0.93 mi) to Tolcarn Junction.

[73] A second platform will be restored at Newquay and there will be other improvements to the terminus as well as upgraded signalling and an additional crossing place (a section of double track) at Tregoss Moor, between St Columb Road and Roche stations.

[78] The handover, which was due to take place at the end of 2008, was delayed for almost three weeks because of problems in obtaining the essential Civil Aviation Authority licence, which was withheld until further work had been carried out.

A scheme to upgrade and improve the bus station with the additions of a new enclosed waiting area and accessible toilet began in February 2018 and was completed in July.

Newquay's academy has produced four full-Cornwall players — Rob Harrison, Neil Ivamy, Joe Crane and Adam Cocking, in addition to numerous County youth representatives.

[101] Towan, Great Western and Tolcarne beaches nearer the town and nearby Crantock and Watergate Bay also provide high quality breaks.

[105] As with the rest of the British Isles and South West England, Newquay experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters.

[112] Source 4: Time and Date[116] The bedrock underlying Newquay is the Devonian age Meadfoot Group, a succession of interbedded mudstones, siltstones and sandstones, with occasional beds of limestone.

Some mineralisation associated with the Cornubian granite batholith that intrudes into much of the peninsular is found in the western part of the town near Fistral Beach, in the form of lodes of lead and silver minerals.