Place:Cornwall, England

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NameCornwall
Alt namesCnwllsource: BIAB Online (1999-2000) accessed 16 Dec 2002
CONsource: Chapman County Code (GENUKI)
Cornsource: Gazetteer of Great Britain (1999) xvii
Cornouaillessource: Cassell's French Dictionary (1981) p 107
Cornovagliasource: Cassell's Italian Dictionary (1983) p 131
Cornwall and Isles of Scillysource: Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1984)
Cornwall and the Isles of Scillysource: UK National Statistics web site
Cournuallessource: Cassell's Spanish Dictionary (1990) p 711
Curnowsource: Wikipedia
Kernowsource: Wikipedia
TypeHistoric county, Administrative county, Modern county
Coordinates50.263°N 5.051°W
Located inEngland
Contained Places
Ancient parish
North Petherwin ( 1966 - )
Werrington ( 1966 - )
Borough (municipal)
Bodmin
Falmouth
Fowey
Helston
Launceston
Liskeard
Lostwithiel ( 500 - )
Penryn
Penzance
Saltash
St. Austell with Fowey ( 1968 - 1974 )
St. Ives
Truro ( 1000 - )
Chapelry
St. Budeaux
Civil parish
Advent
Altarnun
Blisland
Boconnoc
Bodmin Rural (parish)
Botus Fleming
Boyton
Breage
Bridgerule West ( - 1844 )
Broadoak
Budock
Callington
Camborne
Camelford
Cardinham
Carn Brea
Chacewater
Colan
Constantine
Cornelly
Crantock Rural ( 1894 - 1936 )
Crantock
Crowan
Cubert
Cuby with Tregony
Cuby
Cury
Davidstow
Deviock ( 1997 - )
Duloe
East Looe
Egloshayle
Egloskerry
Feock
Forrabury and Minster ( 1918 - )
Fowey
Germoe
Gerrans
Gorran
Grade Ruan ( 1934 - )
Grade ( - 1934 )
Gulval
Gunwalloe
Gwennap
Gwinear
Gwinear-Gwithian ( 1934 - )
Gwithian
Helland
Illogan
Jacobstow
Kea
Kenwyn
Kilkhampton
Ladock
Lamorran
Landewednack
Landrake with St. Erney
Landulph
Laneast
Lanhydrock
Lanivet
Lanlivery
Lannarth
Lanreath
Lansallos
Lanteglos by Fowey
Launcells
Lawhitton Rural (parish) ( 1894 - )
Lawhitton ( - 1894 )
Lelant
Lesnewth
Lewannick
Lezant
Linkinhorne
Liskeard (rural parish) ( 1894 - 1974 )
Little Petherick
Looe
Ludgvan
Luxulyan
Mabe
Madron
Maker with Rame
Manaccan
Marhamchurch
Mawgan
Mawnan
Menheniot
Mevagissey
Michaelstow
Millbrook
Minster
Morvah
Morval
Morwenstow
Mullion
Mylor
Newlyn East
Newquay
North Hill
North Petherwin ( 1966 - )
North Tamerton
Northcott ( 1966 - )
Otterham
Padstow Rural (parish) ( 1894 - 1936 )
Padstow
Paul
Pelynt
Perranarworthal
Perranuthnoe
Perranzabuloe
Phillack
Philleigh
Pillaton
Portreath
Poughill
Poundstock
Probus
Quethiock
Redruth
Roche
Ruan Major ( - 1934 )
Ruan Minor ( - 1934 )
Ruan-Lanihorne
Sancreed
Sennen
Sheviock
Sithney
South Hill
South Petherwin Rural (parish) ( 1894 - )
South Petherwin ( - 1894 )
St. Agnes (near Redruth)
St. Anthony-in-Meneage
St. Austell Rural (parish) ( 1894 - 1934 )
St. Austell
St. Breock
St. Breward
St. Budeaux
St. Buryan
St. Cleer
St. Clement
St. Clether
St. Columb Major
St. Columb Minor Rural ( 1894 - 1934 )
St. Columb Minor ( - 1974 )
St. Day
St. Dominick
St. Endellion
St. Enoder
St. Erth
St. Ervan
St. Eval
St. Ewe
St. Gennys
St. Germans
St. Gluvias
St. Hilary
St. Issey
St. Juliot
St. Just in Penwith
St. Just-in-Roseland
St. Keverne
St. Kew
St. Keyne
St. Levan
St. Mabyn
St. Martin-by-Looe
St. Martin-in-Meneage
St. Mawgan
St. Mellion
St. Merryn
St. Mewan
St. Michael's Mount
St. Michael-Carhayes
St. Minver
St. Neot
St. Pinnock
St. Sampson
St. Stephen in Brannel
St. Stephen's by Launceston Rural (parish) ( 1894 - )
St. Stephen's by Launceston ( - 1889 )
St. Teath
St. Thomas Street ( - 1889 )
St. Thomas the Apostle Rural (parish) ( 1894 - )
St. Tudy
St. Veep
St. Wenn
St. Winnow
Stithians
Stoke Climsland
Stratton
Talland
Temple
Tintagel
Towednack
Tregony
Tremaine
Treneglos
Tresmeer
Trevalga
Trewen
Tywardreath
Veryan
Warbstow
Warleggan
Week St. Mary
Wendron
Werrington ( 1966 - )
West Phillack ( 1894 - 1938 )
Whitstone
Withiel
Zennor
District
Caradon ( 1974 - 2009 )
Carrick ( 1974 - 2009 )
Isles of Scilly
Kerrier (district) ( 1974 - 2009 )
North Cornwall ( 1974 - 2009 )
Penwith (district) ( 1974 - 2009 )
Restormel ( 1974 - 2009 )
Former borough
Newport
Former parish
Forrabury
Grampound
St. Anthony-in-Roseland
St. Blazey
Former village
Merther
Hamlet
Bolventor
Boslymon
Lamorran
Landewednack
Lansallos
Morval
Northcott ( 1966 - )
Rame (near Helston)
Relubbus
St. Enoder
St. Ervan
St. Eval
St. Gennys
St. Pinnock
Talland
Treneglos
Tresmeer
Trewidland
Hundred
East Hundred
Kerrier Hundred
Lesnewth Hundred
Penwith Hundred
Powder Hundred
Pyder Hundred
Stratton Hundred
Trigg Hundred
West Hundred
Inhabited place
Antony
Batson
Bodmin
Boscastle
Breage
Bude
Bugle
Callington
Calstock
Camborne
Camelford
Charlestown
Constantine
Creed
Cuby with Tregony
Cuby
Davidstow
Dobwalls
Doublebois
Duloe
Durgan
East Looe
East Phillack ( - 1934 )
Egloskerry
Falmouth
Feock
Fowey
Gerrans
Goldsithney
Grampound
Great Tree
Gweek
Gwennap
Gwinear
Harlyn
Hayle ( 1888 - )
Helston
Hugh Town
Kilkhampton
Lamorna
Lannarth
Lanreath
Launceston
Lawhitton Rural (parish) ( 1894 - )
Lawhitton ( - 1894 )
Lelant
Lerrin
Linkinhorne
Liskeard
Looe
Lostwithiel ( 500 - )
Ludgvan
Luxulyan
Madron
Marazion
Mevagissey
Millbrook
Mitchell
Morvah
Mount Hawke
Mousehole
Newlyn East
Newlyn
Newquay
North Hill
Padstow
Par
Pelynt
Penryn
Penzance
Phillack
Philleigh
Poldhu
Polgooth
Polperro
Polruan
Polzeath
Pool
Port Isaac
Porthcurno
Porthleven
Porthtowan
Portreath
Praze-An-Beeble
Redruth
Rock
Saltash
South Petherwin Rural (parish) ( 1894 - )
South Petherwin ( - 1894 )
St. Agnes (near Redruth)
St. Anthony-in-Roseland
St. Austell
St. Blazey
St. Cleer
St. Columb Major
St. Columb Road
St. Endellion
St. Erth
St. Germans
St. Ives
St. Keverne
St. Mawes
St. Michael-Carhayes
St. Minver
St. Neot
St. Stephen in Brannel
St. Stephen's by Launceston ( - 1889 )
St. Wenn
Stratton
Tintagel
Torpoint
Trebetherick
Treen
Tregony
Tremough
Treviscoe
Trewarthenick
Trewellard
Treyarnon
Truro ( 1000 - )
Wadebridge
Week St. Mary
West Looe
Island
Bryher
Samson (Isles of Scilly)
St. Agnes (Isles of Scilly)
St. Martin's (Isles of Scilly)
St. Mary's (Isles of Scilly)
St. Michael's Mount
Tresco
Island group
Isles of Scilly
Parish
Gulval
Hessenford
Lanteglos by Camelford
St. Allen
St. Dennis
St. Erme
St. Ive (near Liskeard)
St. Ives
St. John
St. Michael-Penkevil
St. Stephen's by Saltash
St. Stephen's
St. Thomas-the-Apostle ( - 1889 )
Tideford ( 1852 - )
Tregavethan
Treverbyn
Tuckingmill
Parish (ancient)
Boyton
Cornelly
Grade ( - 1934 )
Ruan Major ( - 1934 )
Ruan Minor ( - 1934 )
St. Columb Minor ( - 1974 )
Registration district
Bodmin Registration District ( 1837 - 2007 )
Camborne-Redruth Registration District ( 1974 - 2007 )
Camelford Registration District ( 1837 - 1995 )
Falmouth Registration District ( 1837 - 2007 )
Helston Registration District ( 1837 - 1936 )
Isles of Scilly Registration District ( 1837 - )
Kerrier Registration District ( 1936 - 2007 )
Launceston Registration District ( 1837 - 2007 )
Liskeard Registration District ( 1837 - 2007 )
Penzance Registration District ( 1837 - 2007 )
Redruth Registration District ( 1837 - 1974 )
St. Austell Registration District ( 1837 - 2007 )
St. Columb Major Registration District ( 1837 - 1936 )
St. Germans Registration District ( 1837 - 2007 )
Stratton Registration District ( 1837 - 2007 )
Truro Registration District ( 1837 - 2007 )
Rural district
Bodmin Rural ( 1894 - 1934 )
Calstock Rural ( 1894 - 1934 )
Camelford Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
East Kerrier Rural ( 1894 - 1934 )
Helston Rural ( 1894 - 1934 )
Kerrier Rural ( 1934 - 1974 )
Launceston Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Liskeard Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Redruth Rural ( 1894 - 1934 )
St. Austell Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
St. Columb Major Rural ( 1894 - 1934 )
St. Germans Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Stratton Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Truro Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Wadebridge Rural ( 1934 - 1968 )
Wadebridge and Padstow Rural ( 1968 - 1974 )
West Penwith Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Settlement
Bojewyan
Land's End
Suburb
Kenwyn
Newport
St. Gluvias
Urban district
Bude-Stratton ( 1900 - 1974 )
Camborne-Redruth ( 1934 - 1974 )
Hayle ( 1888 - )
Looe
Phillack
St. Austell
St. Just in Penwith
Torpoint
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Cornwall is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, with the River Tamar forming the border between them. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula of the island of Great Britain. The southwesternmost point is Land's End and the southernmost Lizard Point. Cornwall has a population of and an area of . The county has been administered since 2009 by the unitary authority, Cornwall Council. The ceremonial county of Cornwall also includes the Isles of Scilly, which are administered separately. The administrative centre of Cornwall is Truro, its only city.

Cornwall was formerly a Brythonic kingdom and subsequently a royal duchy. It is the cultural and ethnic origin of the Cornish diaspora. The Cornish nationalist movement contests the present constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom in the form of a devolved legislative Cornish Assembly with powers similar to those in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 2014, Cornish people were granted minority status under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, giving them recognition as a distinct ethnic group.

Recent discoveries of Roman remains in Cornwall indicate a greater Roman presence there than once thought. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Cornwall (along with Devon, parts of Dorset and Somerset, and the Scilly Isles) was a part of the Brittonic kingdom of Dumnonia, ruled by chieftains of the Cornovii who may have included figures regarded as semi-historical or legendary, such as King Mark of Cornwall and King Arthur, evidenced by folklore traditions derived from the Historia Regum Britanniae. The Cornovii division of the Dumnonii tribe were separated from their fellow Brythons of Wales after the Battle of Deorham in 577 AD, and often came into conflict with the expanding English kingdom of Wessex. The regions of Dumnonia outside of Cornwall (and Dartmoor) had been annexed by the English by 838 AD. King Athelstan in 936 AD set the boundary between the English and Cornish at the high water mark of the eastern bank of the River Tamar. From the Early Middle Ages, language and culture were shared by Brythons trading across both sides of the Channel, resulting in the corresponding high medieval Breton kingdoms of Domnonée and Cornouaille and the Celtic Christianity common to both areas.

Tin mining was important in the Cornish economy from the High Middle Ages, and expanded greatly in the 19th century when rich copper mines were also in production. In the mid-19th century, tin and copper mines entered a period of decline and china clay extraction became more important. Mining had virtually ended by the 1990s. Fishing and agriculture were the other important sectors of the economy, but railways led to a growth of tourism in the 20th century after the decline of the mining and fishing industries. Since the late 2010s there have been hopes of a resurgence of mining in Cornwall after the discovery of 'globally significant' deposits of lithium to help power the electric car revolution.

Cornwall is noted for its geology and coastal scenery. A large part of the Cornubian batholith is within Cornwall. The north coast has many cliffs where exposed geological formations are studied. The area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its long and varied coastline, its attractive villages, its many place-names derived from the Cornish language, and its very mild climate. Extensive stretches of Cornwall's coastline, and Bodmin Moor, are protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Prehistory, Roman and post-Roman periods

Humans reoccupied Britain after the last Ice Age. The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. It continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then by Bronze-Age people.

According to John T. Koch and others, Cornwall in the Late Bronze Age formed part of a maritime trading-networked culture which researchers have dubbed the Atlantic Bronze Age and which extended over the areas of present-day Ireland, England, Wales, France, Spain, and Portugal.

During the British Iron Age, Cornwall, like all of Britain (modern England, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man), was inhabited by a Celtic people known as the Britons with distinctive cultural relations to neighbouring Brittany. The Common Brittonic spoken at the time eventually developed into several distinct tongues, including Cornish, Welsh, Breton, Cumbric and Pictish.

The first written account of Cornwall comes from the 1st-century BC Sicilian Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, supposedly quoting or paraphrasing the 4th-century BCE geographer Pytheas, who had sailed to Britain:


The identity of these merchants is unknown. It has been theorised that they were Phoenicians, but there is no evidence for this. Professor Timothy Champion, discussing Diodorus Siculus's comments on the tin trade, states that "Diodorus never actually says that the Phoenicians sailed to Cornwall. In fact, he says quite the opposite: the production of Cornish tin was in the hands of the natives of Cornwall, and its transport to the Mediterranean was organised by local merchants, by sea and then over land through France, passing through areas well outside Phoenician control." Isotopic evidence suggests that tin ingots found off the coast of Haifa, Israel, came from Cornwall. Tin, required for the production of bronze, was a relatively rare and precious commodity in the Bronze Age – hence the interest shown in Devon and Cornwall's tin resources. (For further discussion of tin mining see the section on the economy below.)

In the first four centuries CE, during the time of Roman dominance in Britain, Cornwall was rather remote from the main centres of Romanisation – the nearest being Isca Dumnoniorum, modern day Exeter. However, the Roman road-system extended into Cornwall with four significant Roman sites based on forts: Tregear near Nanstallon was discovered in the early 1970s, two others were found at Restormel Castle, Lostwithiel in 2007, and a third fort near Calstock was also discovered early in 2007. In addition, a Roman-style villa was found at Magor Farm, Illogan in 1935. However, after 410 CE, Cornwall appears to have reverted to rule by Romano-Celtic chieftains of the Cornovii tribe as part of the Brittonic kingdom of Dumnonia (which also included present-day Devonshire and the Scilly Isles), including the territory of one Marcus Cunomorus, with at least one significant power base at Tintagel in the early 6th century.

"King" Mark of Cornwall is a semi-historical figure known from Welsh literature, from the Matter of Britain, and, in particular, from the later Norman-Breton medieval romance of Tristan and Yseult, where he appears as a close relative of King Arthur, himself usually considered to be born of the Cornish people in folklore traditions derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae.

Archaeology supports ecclesiastical, literary and legendary evidence for some relative economic stability and close cultural ties between the sub-Roman Westcountry, South Wales, Brittany, the Channel Islands, and Ireland through the fifth and sixth centuries.

Conflict with Wessex

The Battle of Deorham in 577 saw the separation of Dumnonia (and therefore Cornwall) from Wales, following which the Dumnonii often came into conflict with the expanding English kingdom of Wessex. The Annales Cambriae report that in 722 AD the Britons of Cornwall won a battle at "Hehil". It seems likely that the enemy the Cornish fought was a West Saxon force, as evidenced by the naming of King Ine of Wessex and his kinsman Nonna in reference to an earlier Battle of Lining in 710.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle stated in 815 (adjusted date) "and in this year king Ecgbryht raided in Cornwall from east to west." and thenceforth apparently held it as a ducatus or dukedom annexed to his regnum or kingdom of Wessex, but not wholly incorporated with it. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 825 (adjusted date) a battle took place between the Wealas (Cornish) and the Defnas (men of Devon) at Gafulforda. In the same year Ecgbert, as a later document expresses it, "disposed of their territory as it seemed fit to him, giving a tenth part of it to God." In other words, he incorporated Cornwall ecclesiastically with the West Saxon diocese of Sherborne, and endowed Eahlstan, his fighting bishop, who took part in the campaign, with an extensive Cornish estate consisting of Callington and Lawhitton, both in the Tamar valley, and Pawton near Padstow.

In 838, the Cornish and their Danish allies were defeated by Egbert in the Battle of Hingston Down at Hengestesdune (probably Hingston Down in Cornwall). In 875, the last recorded king of Cornwall, Dumgarth, is said to have drowned. Around the 880s, Anglo-Saxons from Wessex had established modest land holdings in the eastern part of Cornwall; notably Alfred the Great who had acquired a few estates. William of Malmesbury, writing around 1120, says that King Athelstan of England (924–939) fixed the boundary between English and Cornish people at the east bank of the River Tamar.[1]

Breton–Norman period

One interpretation of the Domesday Book is that by this time the native Cornish landowning class had been almost completely dispossessed and replaced by English landowners, particularly Harold Godwinson himself. However, the Bodmin manumissions show that two leading Cornish figures nominally had Saxon names, but these were both glossed with native Cornish names. In 1068, Brian of Brittany may have been created Earl of Cornwall, and naming evidence cited by medievalist Edith Ditmas suggests that many other post-Conquest landowners in Cornwall were Breton allies of the Normans, the Bretons being descended from Britons who had fled to what is today Brittany during the early years of the Anglo-Saxon conquest. She also proposed this period for the early composition of the Tristan and Iseult cycle by poets such as Béroul from a pre-existing shared Brittonic oral tradition.

Soon after the Norman conquest most of the land was transferred to the new Breton–Norman aristocracy, with the lion's share going to Robert, Count of Mortain, half-brother of King William and the largest landholder in England after the king with his stronghold at Trematon Castle near the mouth of the Tamar.

Later medieval administration and society

Subsequently, however, Norman absentee landlords became replaced by a new Cornish-Norman ruling class including scholars such as Richard Rufus of Cornwall. These families eventually became the new rulers of Cornwall, typically speaking Norman French, Breton-Cornish, Latin, and eventually English, with many becoming involved in the operation of the Stannary Parliament system, the Earldom and eventually the Duchy of Cornwall. The Cornish language continued to be spoken and acquired a number of characteristics establishing its identity as a separate language from Breton.

Stannary parliaments

The stannary parliaments and stannary courts were legislative and legal institutions in Cornwall and in Devon (in the Dartmoor area). The stannary courts administered equity for the region's tin-miners and tin mining interests, and they were also courts of record for the towns dependent on the mines. The separate and powerful government institutions available to the tin miners reflected the enormous importance of the tin industry to the English economy during the Middle Ages. Special laws for tin miners pre-date written legal codes in Britain, and ancient traditions exempted everyone connected with tin mining in Cornwall and Devon from any jurisdiction other than the stannary courts in all but the most exceptional circumstances.

Piracy and smuggling

Cornish piracy was active during the Elizabethan era on the west coast of Britain. Cornwall is well known for its wreckers who preyed on ships passing Cornwall's rocky coastline. During the 17th and 18th centuries Cornwall was a major smuggling area.

Heraldry

In later times, Cornwall was known to the Anglo-Saxons as "West Wales" to distinguish it from "North Wales" (the modern nation of Wales). The name appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 891 as On Corn walum. In the Domesday Book it was referred to as Cornualia and in c. 1198 as Cornwal. Other names for the county include a latinisation of the name as Cornubia (first appears in a mid-9th-century deed purporting to be a copy of one dating from c. 705), and as Cornugallia in 1086.

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