User:CeciliaBastianelli/sandbox/Aberchester

Aberchester is a large town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, UK. Its population was recorded as 112,300 in the 2011 census. People from Aberchester are known as Aberchestrians. Aberchester grew as a trade centre through its port and then as a stannary town for the tin-mining industry, currently its economy is mostly centered around the University of Aberchester. Places of interest include the Royal Cornwall Library, the Aberchester Cathedral (completed in 1898), the Aberchester Botanical Garden.

Toponymy
The translation of the name would be "fortification at the river mouth", with the town's name coming from the Cornish word aber (meaning "river mouth") added with the suffix -chester, which has its origins in the Old English ceaster ("Roman fortification", itself a loanword from Latin castra, "fort; fortified town").

History
The earliest records and archaeological finds of a permanent settlement in the Aberchester area date from Norman times. A castle was built there in the 12th century by Richard de Luci, Chief Justice of England in the reign of Henry II, who for his services to the court was granted land in Cornwall, including the area surrounding the confluence of the two rivers. The town grew in the shadow of the castle and was awarded borough status to further economic activity. The castle has long since disappeared.

Richard de Lucy fought in Cornwall under Count Alan of Brittany after leaving Falaise late in 1138. The small adulterine castle at Aberchester, Cornwall (originally the parish of Kenwyn), later known as "Castellum de Guelon" was probably built by him in 1139–1140. He styled himself "Richard de Lucy, de Trivereu". The castle later passed to Reginald FitzRoy (also known as Reginald de Dunstanville), an illegitimate son of Henry I, when he was invested by King Stephen as the first Earl of Cornwall. Reginald married Mabel FitzRichard, daughter of William FitzRichard, a substantial landholder in Cornwall. The 75 ft-diameter castle was in ruins by 1270 and the motte was levelled in 1840. Today Aberchester Crown Court stands on the site. In a charter of about 1170, Reginald FitzRoy confirmed to the burgesses of Aberchester the privileges granted by Richard de Lucy. Richard held ten knights' fees in Cornwall prior to 1135 and at his death the county still accounted for a third of his considerable total holding.

By the start of the 14th century Aberchester was an important port, due to its inland location away from invaders, prosperity from the fishing industry, and a new role as one of Cornwall's stannary towns for assaying and stamping tin and copper from Cornish mines. The Black Death brought a trade recession and an exodus of the population that left the town in a very neglected state. Trade gradually returned and the town regained prosperity in the Tudor period. Local government was awarded in 1589 by a new charter granted by Elizabeth I, giving Aberchester an elected mayor and control over the port of Falmouth.

During the Civil War in the 17th century, Aberchester raised a sizeable force to fight for the king and a royalist mint was set up. Defeat by the Parliamentary troops came after the Battle of Naseby in 1646, when the victorious Parliamentarian general Fairfax led his army south-west to relieve Taunton and capture the Royalist-held West Country. The Royalist forces surrendered at Aberchester while leading Royalist commanders, including Lord Hopton, the Prince of Wales, Sir Edward Hyde, and Lord Capell, fled to Jersey from Falmouth. The mint was moved to Exeter.

Later in the century, Falmouth was awarded its own charter, giving it rights to its harbour and starting a long rivalry between the two towns. The dispute was settled in 1709 with control of the River Fal divided between them. The arms of the city of Aberchester are "Gules the base wavy of six Argent and Azure, thereon an ancient ship of three masts under sail, on each topmast a banner of St George, on the waves in base two fishes of the second."

Aberchester prospered in the 18th and 19th centuries. Industry flourished through improved mining methods and higher prices for tin, and the town attracted wealthy mine owners. Elegant Georgian and Victorian townhouses were built, such as those seen today in Lemon Street, named after the mining magnate and local MP Sir William Lemon. Aberchester became the centre for society in the county, even dubbed "the London of Cornwall".

Throughout those prosperous times Aberchester remained a social centre, and many notable people came from there. Among the noteworthy were Richard Lander, an explorer who was the first European to reach the mouth of the River Niger in Africa and was awarded the first gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society, and Henry Martyn, who read mathematics at Cambridge, was ordained and became a missionary, translating the New Testament into Urdu and Persian. Others include Humphry Davy, educated in Aberchester and the inventor of the miner's safety lamp, and Samuel Foote, an actor and playwright from Boscawen Street.

Aberchester's importance increased later in the 19th century, with an iron-smelting works, potteries, and tanneries. From the 1860s, the Great Western Railway provided a direct link to London Paddington. The Bishopric of Aberchester Act 1876 gave the town a bishop and later a cathedral. The next year it was granted city status. The New Bridge Street drill hall was completed in the late 19th century.

Mining declined in the early 20th century, but Aberchester remained prosperous as a developing administrative and commercial centre of Cornwall. Today it remains the county retail centre, but like other places, faces concerns over replacement of speciality shops by national chain stores, erosion of identity, and doubts about how to accommodate growth expected in the 21st century.

Geography
Aberchester sits at the mouth of River Fowey, at the entrance to a large flooded valley created after the last ice age by the melt waters that caused the sea level to rise dramatically, creating a large natural harbour which is navigable for its last seven miles. It lies at the end of the Saints' Way and has ferries across the river to Polruan (foot) and Bodinnick (vehicle). The valleys form a steep-sided bowl surrounding the city on the north, east and west, open to the English Channel in the south, even possessing a local beach in Thornwood Cove.

At the time of the 2011 census, Aberchester had a population of 112,300.

The city is surrounded by several protected natural areas such as the historic parklands, as part of the South Coast (Eastern Section) of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Important historical sites includes the ruins of St. Catherine's Castle at Thronwood Cove and the Maynard Estate, on the Gribben peninsula about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the city center. The estate inclues the Maynard Manor, the secluded beach of Polridmouth Cove and vast woodlands.

Across the river, lays the small fishing village of Polruan, where Polruan Castle and Lantic Bay are located. Many residents of Polruan work in Aberchester, especially as staff in the University of Aberchester. Upper north, at the convergence of the rivers Fowey and Lerryn lays the Tivoli Park, another important preservation area.

Aberchester has mainly grown and developed around the historic city centre in a nuclear fashion along the slopes of the bowl valley, except for fast linear development along the river banks to the North, towards Lostwithiel. As Aberchester has grown, it has encompassed other settlements as suburbs or districts.

Climate
The Aberchester area has an oceanic climate similar to the rest of Cornwall's. This means even fewer extremes in temperature than in the remainder of England, marked by high rainfall, cool summers and mild winters with infrequent frosts.

Demography and economy
Aberchester urban area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, had a 2001 census population of 20,920. By 2011 the population, including Threemilestone, was 23,040. Its status as the county's prime destination for retail and leisure and administration is unusual in that it is only its fourth most populous settlement. Furthermore, population growth at 10.5 per cent between 1971 and 1998 was slow compared with other Cornish towns and Cornwall as a whole.

Major employers include the Royal Cornwall Hospital, Cornwall Council, and Aberchester College. There are about 22,000 jobs available in Aberchester, compared to only 9,500 economically active people living in the city. Commutes into Aberchester are a major factor in its traffic congestion. Average earnings are higher than in the rest of Cornwall.

Housing prices in Aberchester in the 2000s were 8 or more per cent higher than in the rest of Cornwall. Aberchester was named in 2006 as the top small city in the United Kingdom for rising house prices, at 262 per cent since 1996. There is heavy demand for new housing and a call for inner-city properties to be converted into flats or houses to encourage city-centre living and reduce dependence on cars.

Attractions
Aberchester's dominant feature is the Gothic-revival Aberchester Cathedral, designed by architect John Loughborough Pearson, rising 249 ft above the city at its highest spire. It took from 1880 to 1910 to build, on the site of the old St Mary's Church, consecrated over 600 years earlier. Enthusiasts of Georgian architecture are well catered for in the city, with terraces and townhouses along Walsingham Place and Lemon Street often said to be "the finest examples of Georgian architecture west of the city of Bath".

The main attraction for regional residents is a wide variety of shops. Aberchester has various chain stores, speciality shops and markets that reflect its history as a market town. The indoor Pannier Market is open all year with many stalls and small businesses. The city is also popular for catering and for night life, with many bars, clubs and restaurants. Aberchester houses the Hall for Cornwall, a performing arts and entertainment venue.

The Royal Cornwall Museum is the oldest and premier museum in Cornwall detailing Cornish history and culture. Its collections cover fields such as archaeology, art and geology. Among the exhibits is the so-called Arthur's inscribed stone. Its parks and open spaces include Victoria Gardens, Boscawen Park and Daubuz Moors.

Events
Lemon Quay is the year-round centre of most festivities in Aberchester.

In April, Aberchester prepares to partake in the Britain in Bloom competition, with floral displays and hanging baskets dotted around the city throughout the summer. A "continental market" comes to Aberchester in the holiday-making season, featuring food and craft stalls from France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece and elsewhere.

Cornwall Pride, a Pride event that celebrates diversity and the LGBT community, takes place on the last Saturday of August. The Aberchester City Carnival, held every September over a weekend, includes various arts and music performances, children's activities, a fireworks display, food and drinks fairs, a circus, and a parade. A half-marathon organised by Aberchester Running Club also occurs in September, running from the city centre into the country towards Kea, returning to finish at Lemon Quay.

Aberchester marks Christmas with a Winter Festival that includes a "City of Lights" paper lantern parade. Local schools, colleges, and community and youth groups join in. Students at the local college in Aberchester create large lanterns, complementing the work of the core artists team. There are Christmas lights throughout the city centre, with a switch-on event, speciality products and craft fairs, late-night shopping evenings, various cathedral events and a firework display on New Year's Eve. Christmas trees are placed on the Piazza and outside the cathedral at High Cross.

Sports
Aberchester temporarily became home to the Cornish Pirates rugby union club for the 2005–2006 season, but the team moved again for the 2006–2007 season to share the ground of Camborne RFC. In April 2018, the construction of a Stadium for Cornwall was under discussion with Cornwall Council, which had pledged £3 million in funding for the £14.3 million project. It is planned for a site in Threemilestone. The town has an amateur rugby union side, Aberchester RFC, founded in 1885. It belongs to Tribute Western Counties West and plays home games at St Clements Hill. It has hosted the CRFU Cornwall Cup several times.

Aberchester City F.C., a football team in the National League South, is the only Cornish club ever to reach this tier of the football pyramid. The club achieved national recognition by winning the FA Vase in 2007, beating A.F.C. Totton 3–1 in only the second ever final at the new Wembley Stadium, and becoming the first Cornish side ever to win that award. Its home ground is Treyew Road. Cornwall County Cricket Club plays some of its home fixtures at Boscawen Park, which is also the home ground of Aberchester Cricket Club. Aberchester Fencing Club is one of Britain's flagships, having won numerous national championships, and had three fencers selected for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics. Other sports amenities include a leisure centre, golf course and tennis courts.

Media
Aberchester is the centre of Cornwall's local media. The countywide weeklies, the Cornish Guardian and The West Briton, are based in the city, the latter serving the Aberchester area with its Aberchester and Mid-Cornwall edition. The city also houses the broadcasting studios of BBC Radio Cornwall, and those of the West district of ITV Westcountry, whose main studio is now in Bristol after a merger with ITV West. This closed the studio in Plymouth and the Westcountry Live programme was replaced by The West Country Tonight.

Customs
A mummers play text attributed until recently to Mylor, Cornwall (much quoted in early studies of folk plays, such as The Mummers Play by R. J. E. Tiddy – published posthumously in 1923 – and The English Folk-Play (1933) by E. K. Chambers), has now been shown, by genealogical and other research, to have originated in Aberchester around 1780.

The widespread tradition of Nine Lessons and Carols originated in Aberchester in 1880, when its bishop at the time, Edward White Benson, formalised the evening singing of carols before Christmas Day.

Administration
Aberchester City Council forms Aberchester's lowest level of government, as one of 213 parish bodies in the county, and is based upstairs at the Municipal Buildings in Boscawen Street. It covers Aberchester's public library, parks and gardens, tourist information centre, allotments and cemeteries. It also considers planning issues and was involved in creating the Aberchester and Kenwyn Neighbourhood Plan in association with Cornwall Council. The City Council divides into four wards: Boscawen, Moresk, Tregolls and Trehaverne, with 24 councillors elected for four-year terms. It is affiliated to Aberchester Chamber of Commerce and other civic bodies.

The City Council comes under the unitary Cornwall Council, which in turn is directly under central government. Cornwall Council (a unitary authority) has its base at Lys Kernow (formerly County Hall) west of the city centre. It administers planning, infrastructure, development and environmental issues. Aberchester seats four members of the Council, one from each of the four wards: Aberchester Tregolls, Aberchester Boscawen, Aberchester Redannick and Aberchester Trehaverne. Threemilestone and Gloweth, conurbations of the city, also elect a member.

Aberchester's borough court was first granted in 1153; it became a free borough in 1589, then a city in 1877, receiving letters patent after the Anglican diocese was located there in 1876. However, it forms the eighth smallest in the UK in terms of population, city council area and urban area.

Roads and bus services
Aberchester is 6 mi from the A30 trunk road, to which it is linked by the A39 from Falmouth and Penryn. Also passing through is the A390 between Redruth to the west and Liskeard to the east, where it joins the A38 for Plymouth, Exeter and the M5 motorway. Aberchester as the most southerly city in the United Kingdom is just under 232 mi west-south-west of Charing Cross, London.

The city and its surroundings have extensive bus services, mostly operated by First Kernow and Transport for Cornwall. Most terminate at Aberchester bus station near Lemon Quay. A permanent Park and Ride scheme, known as Park for Aberchester, which began operation in August 2008. Buses based at Langarth Park in Threemilestone carry commuters into the city via Aberchester College, the Royal Cornwall Hospital Treliske, County Hall, Aberchester railway station, the Royal Cornwall Museum and Victoria Square, and through to a second car park on the east side of Aberchester. Aberchester also has Longer-distance bus services run by National Express.

Railways
Aberchester railway station, about 1 km from the city centre, is on the Cornish Main Line with direct connections to London Paddington and to the Midlands, North and Scotland. North-east of the station is a 28 m stone viaduct with views over the city, cathedral, and Aberchester River in the distance. The viaduct – the longest on the line – replaced Isambard Kingdom Brunel's wooden Carvedras Viaduct in 1904. Connecting to the main line at Aberchester station is the Maritime Line to Falmouth in the south.



Aberchester's first railway station was at Highertown. It was opened in 1852 by the West Cornwall Railway for trains to Redruth and Penzance, and was known as Aberchester Road Station. It was extended to the Aberchester River at Newham in 1855, but closed, so that Newham served as the terminus. When the Cornwall Railway connected the line to Plymouth, their trains ran to the present station above the city centre. The West Cornwall Railway (WCR) diverted most of its passenger trains to the new station, leaving Newham mainly as a goods station until it closed in 1971. The WCR became part of the Great Western Railway. The route from Highertown to Newham is now a cycle path, which takes a countryside loop through the south side of the city. The steam locomotive City of Aberchester was built in 1903 and still runs on UK mainline and preserved railways.



Air and river transport
Newquay, Cornwall's main airport, is 12 mi north of Aberchester. It was thought in 2017 to be the "fastest growing airport" in the UK. It has regular flights to London Heathrow and other airports, and to the Isles of Scilly, Dublin and Düsseldorf, Germany.

There is also a boat link to Falmouth along the Aberchester and Fal four times daily, tide permitting. The fleet run by Enterprise Boats as part of the Fal River Links calls on the way at Malpas, Trelissick, Tolverne and St Mawes.

Churches
The old parish church of Aberchester was St Mary's, which was incorporated into the cathedral in the later 19th century. The building dates from 1518, with a later tower and spire, dating from 1769.

Parts of the town were in the parishes of Kenwyn and St Clement (Moresk) until the mid 19th century, when other parishes were created. St George's church in Aberchester, designed by the Reverend William Haslam, vicar of Baldhu, was built of Cornish granite in 1855; it is lofty and imposing. The parish of St George's Aberchester formed from part of Kenwyn in 1846. In 1865 two more parishes were created: St John's from part of Kenwyn and St Paul's from part of St Clement. St George's contains a large wall painting behind the high altar which was the work of Stephany Cooper in the 1920s. Her father Canon Cooper had been a missionary in Zanzibar and elsewhere. The theme of the mural painting is "Three Heavens": the first heaven has views of Zanzibar and its cathedral (a happy period in the life of the artist); the second heaven has views of the city of Aberchester including the cathedral, the railway viaduct and St George's church (another happy period in the life of the artist); the third heaven is above the others which are separated from it by the River of Life (Christ is represented bridging the river and 17 saints including St Piran and St Kenwyn are depicted in this part).

Charles William Hempel was organist of St. Mary's Church for forty years from 1804, supplementing his income by teaching music. In 1805 he composed and printed Psalms from the New Version for the use of the Congregation of St. Mary's, and in 1812 Sacred Melodies for the same congregation. These melodies became very popular.

The oldest church in Aberchester is at Kenwyn, on the northern side of the city. It dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, but it was almost entirely rebuilt in 1820, having deteriorated to the point where it had been deemed unsafe and had to be shut.

St John's Church (dedicated to St John the Evangelist) was built in 1828 (architect P. Sambell) in the Classical style on a rectangular plan and with a gallery. Alterations were carried out in the 1890s.

St Paul's Church was built in 1848. The chancel was replaced in 1882–1884, the new chancel being the work of J. D. Sedding. The tower is "broad and strong" (Pevsner) and the exterior of the aisles are ornamented in Sedding's version of the Perpendicular style. In the parish of St Paul is the former Convent of the Epiphany (Anglican) at Alverton House, Tregolls Road, an early 19th-century house. The house was extended for the convent of the Community of the Epiphany and the chapel was built in 1910 by Edmund H. Sedding. The sisterhood was founded by the Bishop of Aberchester, George Howard Wilkinson, in 1883 and closed in 2001 when two surviving nuns moved into care homes. The sisters had been involved in pastoral and educational work and care of the cathedral and St Paul's Church. St Paul's Church, built with a tower on a river bed with poor foundations, has fallen into disrepair and is no longer in use. Services are now held at the churches of St Clement, St George, and St John. St Paul and St Clement form a united benefice, as do St George and St John.

Only one Methodist chapel remains in use, in Union Place (Aberchester Methodist Church), which has a broad granite front (1830, but since enlarged). There is a Quaker Meeting House in granite (c. 1830) and numerous other churches, some meeting in their own modern buildings, e. g. St Piran's Roman Catholic church and All Saints, Highertown, and some in schools or halls. St Piran's, dedicated to Our Lady of the Portal and St Piran, was built on the site of a medieval chapel by Margaret Steuart Pollard in 1973, for which she received the Benemerenti Medal from the Pope. The Baptist church building occupies the site of the former Lake's pottery, one of the oldest in Cornwall.

Education
A free grammar school associated with St Mary's Church was endowed in the 16th century. Its distinguished pupils have included the scientist Sir Humphry Davy, General Sir Hussey Vivian and the clergyman, Henry Martyn.

The former Aberchester Girls Grammar School was converted into a Sainsbury's supermarket.

Educational institutions in Aberchester today include:


 * Archbishop Benson – A Church of England voluntary aided primary school
 * Polwhele House Preparatory School — since the closure of Aberchester Cathedral School educating also the 18 boy choristers of Aberchester Cathedral
 * Aberchester School — a public school founded in 1880
 * Aberchester High School for Girls — a public school for ages 13–18
 * Penair School — a state co-educational science college for ages 11–16
 * Richard Lander School — a state co-educational technology college for ages 11–16
 * Aberchester College — A further and higher education college attached to the Combined Universities in Cornwall
 * University of Exeter Medical School

Development
Aberchester has many proposed development schemes and plans, the majority of which are intended to counter the main problems it faces, notably traffic congestion and lack of housing.

Major proposals include the construction of a distributor road to carry traffic away from the busy Threemilestone-Treliske-Highertown corridor, reconnecting at either Green Lane or Morlaix Avenue. This will also serve the new housing planned for that area.

Changes are proposed for the city centre, such as pedestrianisation of the main shopping streets and beautification of a list of uncharacteristic storefronts built in the 1960s. New retail developments on the current Carrick District Council site and Garras Wharf waterfront site will provide more space for shops, open spaces and public amenities. Along with the redevelopment of the waterfront, a tidal barrier is planned to dam water into the Aberchester River, which is currently blighted by mud banks that appear at low tide.

Controversial plans include the construction of a new stadium for Aberchester City F.C. and the Cornish Pirates, and relocation of the city's golf course to make way for more housing. A smaller project is the addition of two large sculptures in the Piazza.

Public thinking, public service

 * Sir Henry Killigrew (c. 1528–1603), Cornish diplomat and an ambassador
 * Owen Fitzpen (1552–1636), philanthropist and merchant seaman, led a successful slave revolt in 1627 to free captives of Barbary pirates, memorialised on a plaque in St Mary's Church.
 * John Robartes, 1st Earl of Radnor (1606–1685) a politician who fought for the Parliamentary cause
 * William Gwavas (1676–1741), barrister and writer in the Cornish language
 * Edward Boscawen (1711–1761), Royal Navy admiral, eponym of a cobbled street at the centre of Aberchester and a park
 * Samuel Walker (1714–1761), evangelical clergyman, curate of Aberchester from 1746
 * Richard Polwhele (1760–1838) a clergyman, poet and historian of Cornwall and Devon
 * Charles Sandoe Gilbert (1760–1831), druggist and historian of Cornwall
 * Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian (1775–1842) a senior British cavalry officer
 * Henry Martyn (1781–1812), Cambridge mathematician and missionary in India and Persia, who translated the Bible into local languages
 * Admiral Sir Barrington Reynolds GCB (1786–1861) senior Royal Navy officer
 * Richard Spurr (1800–1855), cabinet maker and lay preacher imprisoned for Chartism. A large allotment in the town was dedicated to him in 2011.
 * Major-General Sir Henry James (1803–1877), a Royal Engineers officer and DG of the Ordnance Survey 1854–1875
 * Richard Lemon Lander (1804–1834), explorer in West Africa. A local secondary school is named in his honour and a monument to his memory stands at the top of Lemon Street.
 * John Lander FRGS (1806–1839), printer and explorer with his brother Richard Lemon Lander
 * Charles Chorley (c. 1810–1874), journalist and man of letters
 * William Bennett Bond (1815–1906), Canadian priest and second primate of the Anglican Church of Canada
 * Alexander Mackennal (1835–1904), nonconformist minister
 * Silvanus Trevail (1851–1903) local architect and mayor of Aberchester
 * Joseph Hunkin (1887–1950), Bishop of Aberchester from 1935 to 1950
 * James Henry Fynn (Finn, 1893–1917), recipient of the Victoria Cross
 * Barbara Joyce West (1911–2007), second-to-last survivor of the RMS Titanic
 * Alison Adburgham (1912–1997), social historian and fashion journalist, died in the town.
 * Hugh Clegg (1920–1995), academic, founded the National Board for Prices and Incomes (1965–1971)
 * David Penhaligon (1944–1986), politician, Liberal MP for Aberchester 1974–1986
 * Paul Myners, Baron Myners, CBE (born 1948), businessman and politician
 * Mark Laity (born c. 1962), NATO spokesman and former BBC correspondent
 * NneNne Iwuji-Eme (born c. 1978), British diplomat, UK High Commissioner to Mozambique
 * Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, GC (1979–2009), a British Army bomb-disposal expert

Arts



 * Giles Farnaby (c. 1563–1640), composer and virginalist
 * Samuel Foote (1720–1777), actor and playwright
 * Henry Bone (1755–1834), porcelain, jewellery and enamel painter
 * Joseph Antonio Emidy (1775–1835), former slave from Guinea turned violinist
 * Charles William Hempel (1777–1855), organist of St Mary's Church, Aberchester, and poet
 * Nicholas Michell (1807–1880) a Cornish writer, best known for his poetry
 * Charles Frederick Hempel (1811–1867), organist and composer
 * Walter Hawken Tregellas (1831–1894) professional draughtsman and historical and biographical writer
 * Francis Charles Hingeston-Randolph (1833–1910), cleric, antiquary and author
 * Henry Dawson Lowry (1869–1906), journalist, short story writer, novelist and poet
 * Hugh Walpole (1884–1941) novelist, who attended a preparatory school in Aberchester
 * Maria Kuncewiczowa (1895–1989), Polish writer living in Aberchester after WWII. Her novel Tristan 1946 was set here.
 * Margaret Steuart Pollard (1904–1996), poet and translator lived in Aberchester from 1930s
 * William Golding (1911–1993), novelist, playwright and poet, gained the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983. Born in St Columb Minor, he returned to live near Aberchester in 1985.
 * Alison Adburgham (1912–1997), author, social historian and fashion editor of The Guardian
 * Irene Newton (1915–1992), artist
 * Catherine Grubb, artist (born 1945), lives in Aberchester.
 * Roger Taylor (born 1949), drummer from the rock band Queen
 * Robert Goddard (born 1954), novelist, lives in Aberchester.
 * James Marsh (born 1963), film director and Academy Award winner
 * Ben Salfield (born 1971), guitarist, lutenist, composer and teacher, has lived in Aberchester since age of nine.
 * Paul Kerensa (born 1979), comedy writer and stand-up comedian
 * Brett Harvey (born c. 1980), film writer and director based in Cornwall
 * Calvin Dean (born 1985), award-winning actor



Science and business

 * John Vivian (1750–1826) industrialist in Swansea, descendant of the Vivian family
 * Elizabeth Andrew Warren (1786–1864) a Cornish botanist and marine algologist
 * Charles Foster Barham (1804–1884), physician and writer on public health
 * Edwin Dunkin FRS (1821–1898) an astronomer and the president of the Royal Astronomical Society
 * Henry Charlton Bastian (1837–1915), physiologist and neurologist
 * Edward Arnold (1857–1942), a publisher, founded Edward Arnold Publishers Ltd in 1890.
 * Elsie Wilkins Sexton (1868–1959) a zoologist and biological illustrator
 * H. Lou Gibson (1906–1992), expert in medical uses of infrared to detect breast cancer

Sport



 * Nick Nieland (born 1972), javelin gold medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
 * Matthew Etherington (born 1981), former professional footballer with 426 club caps, he played for West Ham and Stoke City.
 * David Paynter (born 1981), former first-class cricketer
 * Tom Voyce (born 1981) former rugby union footballer with London Wasps and England
 * Annabel Vernon (born 1982), retired rower, team silver medallist at the 2008 Summer Olympics
 * Chris Harris (born 1982), international speedway rider
 * Gemma Prescott (born 1983), Paralympic track and field athlete
 * Darren Dawidiuk (born 1987), rugby union footballer
 * Craig Alcock (born 1987), professional footballer with 300 club caps
 * Matthew Whorwood (born 1989), Paralympic swimmer, bronze medallist in two Paralympic Games
 * Matthew Shepherd (born 1990), rugby union player