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River Tamar
The Calstock Viaduct crossing the River Tamar
Country	England
Regions	Devon, Cornwall
Source
- location	East Youlstone
- coordinates	50°54′50″N 4°27′10″W / 50.91389, -4.45278
Mouth	Hamoaze
- location	Plymouth Sound, English Channel
- coordinates	50°21′30″N 4°10′0″W / 50.35833, -4.16667

The Tamar is a river in south western England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). At its mouth, the Tamar flows into the Hamoaze where it joins with the River Lynher before entering Plymouth Sound. The river has some 20 road crossings, including the Tamar Bridge, a toll bridge on the A38 trunk road and the world renowned Royal Albert Bridge.

The Tamar's source is less than 6km (4 miles) from the north Cornish coast, but it drains southward. North of the source the Cornish border heads to the sea along Marsland Water, making Cornwall nearly an island.

In a few places the border deviates from the river, leaving, for instance, the Devon village of Bridgerule on the 'Cornish' side. Curiously, the modern administrative border between Devon and Cornwall more closely follows the Tamar than the historic county border. Several villages north of Launceston which are west of the Tamar were actually in Devon until the 1960s.

The Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers around 195km² (75 square miles) around the lower Tamar (below Launceston) and its tributaries the Tavy and the Lynher.[1] It was first proposed in 1963, but was not designated until 1995.[2]

In the late 1850's there was a successful submission by the Duchy of Cornwall involving a dispute with the Crown over the latter’s claim to Cornwall’s foreshore. The Duchy described Cornwall as a Palatine state that had always been held apart from England and that the entire jurisdiction of the Crown within Cornish borders was held by the Duke. ^[1] In other words the reigning monarch’s writ did not extend to Cornwall and the ancient boundary fixed by Athelstan 900 years previously between Cornwall and Wessex was confirmed as the east bank of the river Tamar. This was confirmed more recently by the Tamar Bridge Act 1998. ^[2]

• The Tamar River in Tasmania was named after the Tamar in Cornwall.
• Rivers of the United Kingdom

• Tamar Valley AONB

1. ^ Cornwall Council - Duchy of Cornwall's submission 1856
2. ^ The Tamar Bridge Act 1998