City in Cornwall, England
Truro
Cornwall's only city is home to a cathedral with three spires, and its carol service has been copied around the world.
Key information
- County
- Cornwall
- Nation
- England
- Known for
- Truro Cathedral, Georgian Lemon Street, the Nine Lessons and Carols service, its tidal river
- What locals are called
- Truronians
- Famous people
- Richard Lander, Samuel Foote, Henry Martyn
- Football clubs
- Truro City (the White Tigers)
About Truro
The carol service that started in a Cornish shed
Every Christmas Eve, the Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge, is heard around the world. The idea behind it began in Truro. Edward White Benson, the first Bishop of Truro, devised a Christmas Eve service of lessons and carols in 1880. At first it was held in a wooden structure while the cathedral was still being built. Benson later became Archbishop of Canterbury, and the format was adapted at King's College in 1918. So the next time you hear a boy treble sing the first verse of Once in Royal David's City, remember that the format began on a Cornish building site.
A cathedral built on top of a church
Truro Cathedral was designed by John Loughborough Pearson and built between 1880 and 1910. It was the first Anglican cathedral built on a new site in England since Salisbury in the 13th century. It has three spires, and the tallest, over the crossing, rises about 76 metres. It stands where the parish church of St Mary's once did. Pearson kept part of the old church's south aisle and wove it into the new building, which is why the cathedral seems to have a smaller church tucked against its side. The cathedral was needed because Cornwall got its own diocese in 1876. City status followed in 1877, and Truro has been Cornwall's only city ever since.
Tin, lemons and Georgian swagger
Truro grew rich on tin. It was one of Cornwall's stannary towns, where tin was assessed and taxed before being sold. Its tidal river brought ships to the quayside, and its merchants and mine owners poured money into the town. That money is still on show in the Georgian streets. Lemon Street is named after William Lemon, a mining magnate and MP. Its elegant terraces are some of the finest in Cornwall, and its old market building has been given new life. When the mines faded, the Georgian town stayed on as Cornwall's social and shopping capital. Truro also kept the county's big civic buildings, including the Hall for Cornwall and the Cornwall Museum and Art Gallery.
The Truro boy who found the mouth of the Niger
At the top of Lemon Street stands a column honouring Richard Lander, born in Truro in 1804. In 1830, with his brother John, he followed the River Niger to the sea. That settled one of the great geographical puzzles of the age. Lander died in 1834 on the island of Fernando Po, after being wounded on a later expedition. The monument went up the following year. Truro has produced other lively characters. Samuel Foote, the 18th-century actor and playwright, was born here, and so was Henry Martyn, the missionary and linguist.
Pasties, pitch and the White Tigers
This is Cornwall, so the pasty is serious business. Add saffron buns, hog's pudding and a cream tea, and you have the local menu. The jam goes on first, in Cornish tradition, then the cream. On the sports front, Truro City FC are nicknamed the White Tigers and play at Truro City Stadium at Langarth, their home since 2024. They left Treyew Road in 2021. The club climbed rapidly through the non-league ranks in the 2000s and has played at a higher level than most of Cornwall's clubs. Truro is also a city on the water. The river runs through its heart and meets the Fal estuary just downstream, and at high tide it comes right up to the edge of town. Local people call themselves Truronians.
Why it feels bigger than it is
With only a modest population, Truro punches well above its weight. People travel in from across Cornwall for its cathedral, theatre, museum and independent shops. The railway helps. Brunel's timber viaducts once strode over the town's valleys, and the stone piers of some of them can still be seen beside the replacement viaducts. Trains on the Cornish main line stop here on their way to Penzance. Small, hilly and tidal, Truro has the confidence of a capital without the size.