Bodmin

Coordinates: 50°27′58″N 4°43′05″W / 50.466°N 4.718°W / 50.466; -4.718
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bodmin
  • Civil Ward, 2011)
DemonymBodminite[citation needed]
OS grid referenceSX071665
Civil parish
  • Bodmin
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBODMIN
Postcode districtPL31
Dialling code01208
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireCornwall
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cornwall
50°27′58″N 4°43′05″W / 50.466°N 4.718°W / 50.466; -4.718

Bodmin (Bosvenegh

civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor.[2]

The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered to the east by Cardinham parish, to the southeast by Lanhydrock parish, to the southwest and west by Lanivet parish, and to the north by Helland parish.[3]

Bodmin had a population of 14,736 as of the 2011 Census.[4] It was formerly the county town of Cornwall until the Crown Courts moved to Truro which is also the administrative centre (before 1835 the county town was Launceston). Bodmin was in the administrative North Cornwall District until local government reorganisation in 2009 abolished the District (see also Cornwall Council). The town is part of the North Cornwall parliamentary constituency, which is represented by Scott Mann MP.

Bodmin Town Council is made up of sixteen councillors who are elected to serve a term of four years. Each year, the Council elects one of its number as Mayor to serve as the town's civic leader and to chair council meetings.[5]

Situation and origin of the name

The name of the town probably derives from the Cornish "Bod-meneghy", meaning "dwelling of or by the sanctuary of monks".[6] Variant spellings recorded include Botmenei in 1100, Bodmen in 1253, Bodman in 1377 and Bodmyn in 1522.[6] The Bodman spelling also appears in sources and maps from the 16th and 17th centuries,[7] most notably in the celebrated map of Cornwall produced by John Speed but actually engraved by the Dutch cartographer Jodocus Hondius the Elder (1563–1612) in Amsterdam in 1610 (published in London by Sudbury and Humble in 1626).[8]

The hamlets of Cooksland, Little Kirland, Dunmere and Turfdown are in the parish.[9]

History

Norman conquest but at the time of Domesday still held eighteen manors, including Bodmin, Padstow and Rialton.[11] Bodmin is one of the oldest towns in Cornwall, and the only large Cornish settlement recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086.[12] In the 15th century the Norman church of St Petroc was largely rebuilt and stands as one of the largest churches in Cornwall (the largest after the cathedral at Truro). Also built at that time was an abbey of canons regular, now mostly ruined. For most of Bodmin's history, the tin
industry was a mainstay of the economy.

An inscription on a stone built into the wall of a summer house in Lancarffe furnishes proof of a settlement in Bodmin in the early Middle Ages. It is a memorial to one "Duno[.]atus son of Me[.]cagnus" and has been dated from the 6th to 8th centuries.[13]

A Cornish cross on Old Callywith Road

Arthur Langdon (1896) records three Cornish crosses at Bodmin; one was near the Berry Tower, one was outside Bodmin Gaol and another was in a field near Castle Street Hill.[14] There is also Carminow Cross at a road junction southeast of the town.

The Black Death killed half of Bodmin's population in the mid 14th century (1,500 people).[15]

Rebellions

Bodmin was the centre of three Cornish uprisings. The first was the

Roman Catholic religion and again a Cornish army was formed in Bodmin which marched across the border into Devon to lay siege to Exeter. This became known as the Prayer Book Rebellion. Proposals to translate the Prayer Book into Cornish were suppressed and in total 4,000 people were killed in the rebellion.[16]

Bodmin Borough Police

The Borough of Bodmin was one of the 178 municipal boroughs which under the auspices of the

Cornwall Constabulary
in 1857 put pressure on smaller municipal police forces to merge with the county. The two-man force of Bodmin came under threat almost immediately, but it would take until 1866 for the Mayor of Bodmin and the Chairman of the Police Watch Committee to agree on the terms of amalgamation. After a public enquiry, the force was disbanded in January 1866 and policing of the borough was deferred to the county from thereon.

"Bodmin Town"

The song "Bodmin Town" was collected from the Cornishman William Nichols at Whitchurch, Devon, in 1891 by Sabine Baring-Gould who published a version in his A Garland of Country Song (1924).[17]

Churches

Parish church of St Petroc

St Petroc's Church

The existing church building is dated 1469–72 and was until the building of

Catacleuse stone). There is also a twelfth-century ivory casket which is thought to have once contained relics of St Petroc. The font of a type common in Cornwall is of the 12th century: large and finely carved in elvan.[18][19]

Other churches

The Chapel of St Thomas Becket is a ruin of a 14th-century building in Bodmin churchyard. The holy well of St Guron is a small stone building at the churchyard gate. The Berry Tower is all that remains of the former church of the Holy Rood and there are even fewer remains from the substantial Franciscan Friary established ca. 1240: a gateway in Fore Street and two pillars elsewhere in the town. The Roman Catholic

Second World War: the Church of St Mary and St Petroc was eventually consecrated in 1965:[22] it was built next to the already existing seminary.[20]
There are also five other churches in Bodmin, including a Methodist church.

Archdeaconry of Bodmin

Sites of interest

Bodmin Jail

First World War the prison held some material from Britain's Public Record Office, including the Domesday Book, but not the Crown Jewels as is commonly claimed: in World War II these were stored in Windsor Castle.[23]

Institutions

The Shire Hall
Berry Tower, all that remains of the Chapel of the Holy Rood
The former Bodmin Library, now an arts and community centre called intoBodmin

Other buildings of interest include the former Shire Hall, now a tourist information centre, and Victoria Barracks, formerly depot of the now defunct Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry and now the site of the regimental museum. It includes the history of the regiment from 1702, plus a military library. The original barracks house the regimental museum which was founded in 1925. There is a fine collection of small arms and machine guns, plus maps, uniforms and paintings on display. The Honey Street drill hall was the mobilisation point for reservists being deployed to serve on the Western Front.[24]

Bodmin County Lunatic Asylum, later known as St Lawrence's Hospital,[25][26][27] was designed by John Foulston. The humorist, William Robert Hicks, was domestic superintendent in the mid-19th century.[28]

Walker Lines, named after

industrial estate
but still known as 'Walker Lines'.

Bosvenna House, an Edwardian manor house, was formerly Bosvenna Hotel, and the home of the Royal British Legion Club, but has since become a private residence.

There is a sizable single storey Masonic Hall in St Nicholas Street, which is home to no less than eight Masonic bodies.[29]

Other sites

Bodmin Beacon Local Nature Reserve is the hill overlooking the town. The reserve has 83 acres (33.6 ha) of public land and at its highest point it reaches 162 metres (531 ft) with the distinctive landmark at the summit. The 44 metres (144 ft) tall granite monument to Sir

Walter Raleigh Gilbert[30]
was built in 1857 by the townspeople of Bodmin to honour the soldier's life and work in India.

In 1966, the "Finn VC Estate" was named in honour of

James Henry Finn who once lived in the town. An ornate granite drinking bowl which serves the needs of thirsty dogs at the entrance to Bodmin's Priory car park was donated by Prince Chula Chakrabongse of Thailand who lived at Tredethy.[31]

Education

There are no

independent schools
in the area.

Primary schools

Beacon ACE Academy opened as a primary school for pupils aged between 3–11 in September 2017, following the merger of Beacon Infant and Nursery School and Robartes Junior School. Beacon ACE Academy is part of Kernow Learning] Multi Academy Trust and is rated Good by 
Special Educational Needs
.

Infant School and St. Petroc's Junior School. St. Petroc's is a large school with some 440 pupils between the ages of four and 11. Eight of its fourteen governors are nominated by the Diocese of Truro or the Parochial Church Council of St. Petroc's, Bodmin. It is currently rated as “Requires Improvement” by Ofsted
.

There are a further two

.

Bodmin College

Bodmin College is a large state comprehensive school for ages 11–18 on the outskirts of the town. Its principal is Ms Seward-Adams. The college is home to the nationally acclaimed "Bodmin College Jazz Orchestra", founded and run by the previous Director of Music, Adrian Evans, until 2007 and more recently, by the current Director, Ben Vincent. In 1997, Systems & Control students at Bodmin College constructed Roadblock, a robot which entered and won the first series of Robot Wars and was succeeded by "The Beast of Bodmin". The school also has one of the largest sixth forms in the county.

Callywith College

Further Education college in Bodmin, Cornwall, that opened in September 2017.[32][33] A new-build college on a site close to the Bodmin Asda supermarket, it will eventually cater for 1,280 students, with 197 staff employed. A total of 660 places were available in its first year.[34] It is being created with the assistance of the Ofsted Outstanding Truro and Penwith College to serve students aged 16–19 from Bodmin, North Cornwall and East Cornwall. It received the go-ahead in February 2016, funded as a Free School.[35][36] Its aim is to "provide the outstanding Truro and Penwith College experience for up to 1280 young people in Bodmin and North and East Cornwall."[37]

Army School of Education

Aspiring National Service Sergeant Instructors of the

Second World War at Buchanan Castle, Drymen in Scotland,[38] and later, from 1948, at the Walker Lines, Bodmin,[39]
until it moved to Wilton Park, Beaconsfield.

Transport

Bodmin Parkway railway station – once known as Bodmin Road – is a principal calling point on the Cornish Main Line about 3½ miles (5½ km) south-east of the town centre. Buses to central Bodmin, Wadebridge, Padstow, Rock, Polzeath, Port Isaac and Camelford depart from outside the station entrance. It is connected to Bodmin town by a branch line that is home to the local steam railway, Bodmin and Wenford Railway.

Bodmin is just off the A30 providing a connection to the M5 motorway at Exeter 62 miles (99 km) northeast.

Bus and coach services connect Bodmin with some other districts of Cornwall and Devon.

Sport and leisure

Bodmin has a

Tribute Cornwall/Devon league; a level 8 league in the English rugby union system
.

The Royal Cornwall Golf Club (now defunct) was located on Bodmin Moor. It was founded in 1889 and became "Royal" in 1891. The club disbanded in the 1950s.[40][41]

There is an active running club, Bodmin RoadRunners.

Bodmin was a stage finish in 2021 cycling Tour of Britain (Stage 1, 5th September).

Cornish wrestling

Bodmin has been a great centre for Cornish wrestling over the centuries.[42] The Bodmin Wrestling Association was instrumental in the setting up of the Cornish Wrestling Association in 1923. At the base of the monument on The Beacon are the remains of the wrestling ring which many believe was a Plen-an-gwary.[43][44][45] More recently Cornish wrestling tournaments are held as part of the revival of Bodmin Riding.

Other places in Bodmin where Cornish wrestling tournaments and matches were held include:

  • Coldharbour near the Barracks[46]
  • Field at Barn Lane, opposite the Asylum Reservoir[47]
  • Field which adjoins St Nicholas opposite the Great Western Railway Station[48]
  • The Gymnasium at the DCLI Barracks[49]
  • Bodmin town's ground at Westheath[50]
  • The Football Ground, Priory Park[51]
  • Bodmin priory grounds, including the 1951 inter-celtic tournament[52]

William George Fish, known as, "Billy the Fish", from Bodmin, was the featherweight champion in 1927 and 1928 and the lightweight champion in 1933 and 1934.[53][54]

Media

Newspapers

Cornish Guardian is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday in seven separate editions, including the Bodmin edition.

In October 2020, the Bodmin Voice, sister paper to the Newquay Voice, was launched. It is published every Wednesday and focuses centrally on Bodmin.

Radio

Bodmin is the home of NCB Radio, an internet radio station which aims to bring a dedicated station to North Cornwall. The town is also served by county-wide radio stations, BBC Radio Cornwall, Heart West and Greatest Hits Radio South West.

Television

Local TV coverage is provided by BBC South West and ITV West Country. Television signals are received from the Caradon Hill and the local relay transmitters.[55][56]

Notable people

See also Category:People from Bodmin

Town twinning

Bodmin is

Bederkesa in Germany; Grass Valley, in California, United States; and Le Relecq-Kerhuon (Ar Releg-Kerhuon in Brittany), France.[60]

Official heraldry

W. H. Pascoe's 1979 A Cornish Armory gives the arms of the priory and the monastery and the seal of the borough.

  • Seal – a king enthroned; legend: Sigill comune burgensium bodmine
  • Priory – Azure three salmon naiant in pale Argent
  • Monastery – Or on a chevron Azure between three lion's heads Purpure three annulets Or

Official events

On Halgavor Moor (Goats' Moor) near Bodmin there was once an annual carnival in July which was on one occasion attended by King Charles II.[61] Halgavor extends into the parish of Lanhydrock.[62]

Bodmin Riding, a horseback procession through the town, is a traditional annual ceremony.

'Beating the bounds' and 'hurling'

In 1865–66

Rotary club of Bodmin and was last played in 2015. The game is started by the Mayor of Bodmin by throwing a silver ball into a body of water known as the "Salting Pool". There are no teams and the hurl follows a set route. The aim is to carry the ball from the "Salting Pool" via the old A30, along Callywith Road, then through Castle Street, Church Square and Honey Street to finish at the Turret Clock in Fore Street. The participant carrying the ball when it reaches the turret clock will receive a £10 reward from the mayor.[63]

In 2015, beating of the bounds and Cornish hurling took place at Bodmin 8 April organised by the

Rotary club of Bodmin.[64]

See also

References

  1. ^ "List of Place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel" (PDF). Cornish Language Partnership. May 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Cornwall Council online mapping". Mapping.cornwall.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013.
  3. ^ "Bodmin Population 2011". Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  4. ^ "Bodmin Town Council Website". Bodmin Town Council. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  5. ^ a b "History of Bodmin". bodmin.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  6. ^ "Map". upload.wikimedia.org/. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Map". paintingandframe.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Cornwall; Explore Britain". Explorebritian.info. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  9. Doble, G. H.
    (1965) The Saints of Cornwall: part 4. Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 132–166
  10. ^ Thorn, C. et al. (eds.) (1979) Cornwall. Chichester: Phillimore; entries 4,3–4.22
  11. ^ Powell-Smith, Anna. "Bodmin – Domesday Book". Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  12. ^ Discussion, photo and bibliography in Okasha, Elisabeth (1993). Corpus of Early Christian Inscribed Stones of South-west Britain. Leicester: University Press, pp. 126–128
  13. ^ He also mentions a fourth cross which is missing, but may have been the same as the third.--Langdon, A. G. (1896) Old Cornish Crosses. Truro: Joseph Pollard; pp. 46, 57, 74 & 227
  14. ^ "Black Death". Archived from the original on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
  15. ^ Sturt, John (1987) Revolt in the West: the Western Rebellion of 1549. Exeter: Devon Books
  16. ^ A more authentic version based on the Baring-Gould MSS. appeared in 1974 in Gordon Hitchcock's Songs of the West Country.--Dave Arthur's notes on Martyn Wyndham Read's Andy's Gone Broadside BRO 134.
  17. ^ Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed. Penguin Books
  18. ^ Sedding, Edmund H. (1909) Norman Architecture in Cornwall: a handbook to old ecclesiastical architecture. London: Ward & Co.; pp. 21–36
  19. ^ a b Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall, second ed. Penguin Books.
  20. ^ "Parish of St Mary, Bodmin". Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  21. ; p. 119
  22. ^ "Bodmin". The Drill Hall Project. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  23. ^ "Bodmin workhouse, later St Lawrence's Hospital (Illustration)". Peter Higginbotham's Workhouse website. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  24. ^ "Middlesex University index of County Asylums". Mdx.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  25. ^ "History of St Lawrence's Hospital, after its closure". Art.deaco.btinternet.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2007.
  26. ^ Boase, G. C. (1891). "Hicks, William Robert (1808–1868), asylum superintendent and humorist". Dictionary of National Biography Vol. XXVI. Smith, Elder & Co. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  27. ^ Cornwall Masonic Yearbook 2019/20
  28. ^ Chichester, H. M. (2004) 'Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, first baronet (1785–1853)’, rev. Roger T. Stearn, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 1 Jan 2008
  29. ^ "New Zealand Cornish Association newsletter" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2009.
  30. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  31. ^ [2][permanent dead link]
  32. ^ [3][permanent dead link]
  33. ^ "Games Workshop founder and entrepreneur to open 2 free schools". Gov.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  34. ^ [4][permanent dead link]
  35. ^ "New post-16 College planned to be built on land at Bodmin". Callywith. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  36. ^ "Illiterate Recruits" in The Times (London) (23 August 1947).
  37. ^ Colin Day, National Service with the RAEC in Cornwall Part 1, at http://www.colindaylinks.com/dayspast/raec49.html Archived 25 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 7 December 2010).
  38. ^ "Royal Cornwall Golf Club", "Golf's Missing Links".
  39. ^ "Royal Cornwall Golf Club. Bodmin. (1889 - 1950s)". Golf's Missing Links. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  40. ^ Royal Cornwall Gazette, 30 June 1810.
  41. ^ The Western Morning News; 16 September 2013.
  42. ^ Cornish Guardian, 30 June 2010.
  43. ^ Royal Cornwall Gazette, 25 July 1856.
  44. ^ Royal Cornwall Gazette, 9 July 1908.
  45. ^ Cornish Guardian, 16 September 1904.
  46. ^ Cornish Guardian, 24 June 1921.
  47. ^ Cornish Guardian, 13 January 1922.
  48. ^ Cornish Guardian, 25 June 1936.
  49. ^ Cornish Guardian, 11 July 1963.
  50. ^ Cornish Guardian, 19 July 1951.
  51. ^ William George Fish (1913-1954), Old Cornwall, Autumn 2011, p44-47.
  52. ^ The Longsdale Book of Sporting Records, Seeley, Service & Co Ltd, 1937, p416.
  53. ^ "Full Freeview on the Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) transmitter". Ukfree.tv. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  54. ^ "Freeview Light on the Penaligon Down (Cornwall, England) transmitter". Ukfree.tv. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  55. ^ "Truro College wheelchair athlete Ben Oliver sets his sights on competing at 2020 Paralympic Games | West Briton". westbriton.co.uk. 2014. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  56. ^ [5][permanent dead link]
  57. ^ Brown, H. Miles (1964) The Church in Cornwall. Truro: Oscar Blackford; p. 40
  58. ^ "Twinned Towns: 3 Cornish Towns with Surprising Sister Cities". The Cornish Life. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  59. ^ Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
  60. ^ Ordnance Survey One-inch Map of Great Britain; Bodmin and Launceston, sheet 186. 1961
  61. ^ "2010 Bodmin Hurl Rules". Rotary Club of Bodmin. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  62. ^ "Beating the Town Bounds – Photos". Rotary & Lions Clubs of Bodmin. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.

Further reading

  • Henderson, Charles (1935) "Some Notes on Bodmin Priory", in: Essays in Cornish History. Oxford: Clarendon Press; pp. 219–28
  • Maclean, Sir John (1870) Parochial and Family History of the Parish and Borough of Bodmin, in the County of Cornwall. (Parochial and Family History of the Deanery of Trigg Minor; pt. 2.) London: Nichols & Sons

External links

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