Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England.

[1] Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Cornwall".

The grade II listed cottage[3] of Mary Newman, the mistress of Sir Francis Drake, is situated on Culver Road.

[4] The town expanded in the 1990s with the addition of the large new estate Latchbrook, and again with the more recent building of another housing area, Pillmere.

In the summer of 2009, the Saltash postcode area was judged as the most desirable place to live in Great Britain in a survey that included statistics from school results and crime figures.

A family called Essa lived in the twelfth century at their property near Ashtor Rock, where the Manor Courts were once held.

In 1549 there was a Cornish insurrection against the introduction of the Protestant liturgy, and the rebels under Humphrey Arundell, for which he was beheaded at Tyburn, gained possession of Trematon Castle by treachery, capturing Sir Richard Grenville, the elder, in the process.

The original ferry became established by fishermen for those passing to and from the monastery at St Germans and to Trematon Castle.

After the Norman Conquest, Robert, Count of Mortain, who held the castle and manor at Trematon, took the market from the canons at St. Germans and established it at Saltash.

In the twelfth century a borough was founded (1190), and Saltash became the only franchised seaport between Dartmouth and Fowey.

[8] The Antony Passage Ferry, which is mentioned in documents as early as 1324, was situated within the St Stephens suburb of Saltash civil parish.

Like the castle it belonged later to the Earls and Dukes of Cornwall; in 1351 King Edward III appropriated it to the Deanery of Windsor so that the benefice became a vicarage.

Saltash.Net sought out links with Microsoft under the headship of Isobel Bryce and during her tenure, the school was rated as ‘good’ by OFTSED.

For 2008 a new five towns challenge has been added to the list of events, pitting Saltash against Liskeard, Callington, Looe and Torpoint.

The local cottage hospital (the Home of St Barnabas (convalescent) ) was provided by the Society of Saint Margaret, an Anglican sisterhood.

The club boasts a recording studio, band practice rooms, and a 300-person capacity music venue.

Not far to the north is the China Fleet Country Club which has an 18-hole championship standard golf course, a swimming pool with spa and other fitness facilities.

The Saltash Sailing Club caters for all ages with over 100 cadets out on the water on a Friday night.

Saltash has held Cornish wrestling tournaments for centuries, including hosting such famous wrestlers as Parkyn and Gundry.

British saxophonist John Surman's 2012 album (produced by ECM) is named Saltash Bells.