St. Columb

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  Lies to the west of Wadebridge and to the south of Newquay, was once considered as the location for Cornwall's cathedral (now in Truro). The parish church of St. Columba is unusually large, with a four tier tower and a wide through arch; inside there are some fine 16th & 17th Century monumental brasses to the Arundell family. The church is adjoined to the south and east by handsome old residential buildings.

"Hurling the Silver Ball" is a rowdy medieval game still played today, it is played twice a year, on Shrove Tuesday then on the Saturday 11 days later. It involves 2 teams of several hundred people (the 'townsmen' and the 'countrymen') who endeavour to carry a silver painted ball made of apple wood through goals set 2 miles apart. Once a common pastime throughout the county, this ancient game is now only played here and in St. Ives. Such is the passion for the St. Columb event that windows of houses and shops in the locality are boarded up for the occasion.

2 miles Southeast of St. Columb Major the land rises to 700ft above sea level on Castle Downs, the site of a massive Iron Age hill fort known as Castle-an-Dinas, where 3 earthwork ramparts enclose an area of over six acres. The climb to the gorse-covered summit is rewarded with panoramic views over the leafy Vale of Lanherne to the Northwest, and over Goss Moor to the clay deposits to the south.

List of businesses situated in or near St. Columb