Redruth

Coordinates: 50°13′59″N 5°13′26″W / 50.233°N 5.224°W / 50.233; -5.224

Redruth (/rəˈdruːθ/ rə-DROOTH, Cornish: Resrudh) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also includes Carn Brea, Illogan and several satellite villages, stood at 55,400 making it the largest conurbation in Cornwall. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road (now the A30), and is approximately 9 miles (14 km) west of Truro, 12 miles (19 km) east of St Ives, 18 miles (29 km) north east of Penzance and 11 miles (18 km) north west of Falmouth. Camborne and Redruth together form the largest urban area in Cornwall and before local government reorganisation were an urban district.

Toponymy

The name Redruth (pronounced 'Red-rooth') derives from its Cornish name, Rhyd-ruth. Rhyd an older form of 'Res', which is a Cornish equivalent to a ford (across a river), a common Celtic word : Old Cornish rid; Welsh rhyd (Old Welsh rit); Old Breton rit or ret, Gaulish ritu-, all from Indo-European *prtus derived word in -tu from the root *per « to cross, to go through »; Proto-Germanic *furdúz (English ford, German Furt); Latin portus, all related to the Celtic word. It is the -ruth (and not the Red- part of the name) which means the colour red.