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Welcome to Gulworthy  Parish Council

Gulworthy is a rural parish in the west of Devon, straddling a ridge between the Tamar river to the west and the river Tavy and Lumburn stream to the east. Now predominantly agriculture and forestry, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the area was heavily industrialised. Blanchdown Wood, in the northwest of the parish, was the site of the Devon Great Consuls copper mine, one of the world’s largest copper mining enterprises. Arsenic and other metal ores were also mined extensively around Gulworthy. As part of these operations the port at Morwellham, in the southwest of the parish, was developed. The Tavistock canal, which passes under the parish in a tunnel bored through Morwell Down, connected Morwellham to the mines and Tavistock.

Gulworthy today is a small hamlet at the junction of the east-west A390 Tavistock – Gunnislake road and the B3257/B3362 running north-south from Chip Shop towards Bere Alston. There is a church, primary school and the parish hall, all serving the local community and the surrounding hamlets and farmsteads.

The Gulworthy Parish area is defined on the boundary map.

About Gulworthy Parish

The ‘modern’ parish of Gulworthy has only been in existence since 1987, prior to this most of the land was in Tavistock Hamlets Parish, which was formed after Tavistock Rural District Council was dissolved. The Parish of Gulworthy as such has no village, but is a group of hamlets and smaller settlements. Despite this there is a thriving community spirit with a School, Church and Parish Hall.

The land in Gulworthy has been worked for minerals from an early date and the last tin ‘coinage’ held in Devon was in 1838 at Morwellham when 176 tons of tin made into 756 blocks of tin were ‘coined’ or stamped with the arms of the Duchy of Cornwall.

The mining heritage of the area is reflected in the names of some of the settlements in the area e.g. Wheal Maria, Wheal Joshia, Chip Shop etc., which formed part of the Devon Great Consuls complex. In 1865 it was recorded that the mines had been working for 21 years and had produced four hundred and twenty thousand tons of ore, realising £2,500,000.00

Today, much of the parish is within the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has recently been World Heritage status, because of the links with the mining industry. Morwellham is undergoing a major revamp as a World Heritage site for visitors with adjoining walks and trails into the adjacent land.

The Chip Shop and Ship Inn are the local Public Houses with the Horn of Plenty offering top class restaurant facilities.

The casual holiday maker, is catered for with a Caravan Park at Woodovis with local farms and houses offering Bed and Breakfast accommodation.

The Church, School and Parish Hall are thriving as ‘community assets’.