Camelford

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Camelford Ryskammel

Coordinates: 50.6166° N 4.6833° W
Population	2,256 (Civil Parish, 2001)
OS grid reference	SX101831
Parish	Camelford
District	North Cornwall
Shire county	Cornwall
Region	South West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CAMELFORD
Postcode district	PL32
Dial code	01840
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Cornwall
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	North Cornwall
European Parliament	South West England
List of places: UK • England • Cornwall

Camelford (Cornish: Ryskammel) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

The town lies on the River Camel, and its main industry was slate. It is the home of the North Cornwall Museum.

It is part of the North Cornwall parliamentary constituency, and also North Cornwall District Council, which has offices in the town.

[edit] History

Due to its name, it has been linked to the legendary Camelot, and even Camlann, but historians have been quick to refute these suggestions.

The town elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons. It was considered a rotten borough and its franchise was abolished in 1832.

In July 1988, the water supply to the town and the surrounding area was contaminated when 20 tons of aluminium sulphate were poured into the wrong tank at the nearby Lowermoor water works on Bodmin Moor near Bodmin. An independent inquiry into the incident (the worst of its kind in British history) was started in 2002, and a draft report issued in January 2005, but questions still remain as to the long-term effects on the health of local residents. Michael Meacher, who visited Camelford in his post as environment minister, was said to have called the incident and its aftermath, "A most unbelievable scandal."^[1]