Bodmin

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Bodmin (Cornish: Bosvenegh) is a town in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, with a population of 12,778 (2001 census). It was formerly the county town of Cornwall, but that is now Truro. It is in the North Cornwall district.

Bodmin lies in the centre of the county, along the western edge of Bodmin Moor. St. Petroc founded a priory here in the 6th century; he gave the alternate name to Bodmin which is Petrockstow. Bodmin is one of the oldest towns in the county, and the only Cornish settlement of size recorded in the Domesday Book of the late 11th century. In the 15th century the Norman church of St. Petroc was heavily rebuilt and stands as one of the largest churches in Cornwall. Also built at that time was an abbey, now mostly ruined. For most of Bodmin's history, the tin industry was a mainstay of the economy.

It has been suggested that the town's name comes from an archaic word in the Cornish "bod" (meaning a dwelling; the later word is "bos") and a contraction of "menegh" (monks). This speculation is both unproven and unprovable since the name is also thought to predate the institution of the monastery which is popularly supposed to support it; it may however refer to an earlier monastic settlement instituted by St. Guron, which St. Petroc took as his site.

Bodmin is famous for being at the centre of three Cornish uprisings. The first was the Cornish Rebellion of 1497 when a Cornish army, led by Michael An Gof - a blacksmith from St. Keverne and Thomas Flamank - a lawyer from Bodmin marched to Blackheath in London where they were eventually defeated by 10,000 men of the King's army under Baron Daubeny. Then, in the Autumn of 1497, a man named Perkin Warbeck tried to usurp the throne from Henry VII. Warbeck was proclaimed King Richard IV in Bodmin. However Henry Tudor had little difficulty crushing the uprising. Finally in 1549, Cornishmen rose once again in rebellion when the staunchly Protestant Edward VI tried to impose a new prayer book. Cornish people were still strongly attached to the old Catholic religion and again a Cornish army was formed in Bodmin which marched across the border to lay siege to Exeter in Devon - the Prayer Book Rebellion. Proposals to translate the Prayer Book into Cornish were suppressed and in total 4,000 people were murdered in the rebellion.

Bodmin Parkway railway station is served by main line trains and is situated on the Great Western Main Line about 3.5 miles south-east from the town centre. A heritage railway, the Bodmin and Wenford Railway, runs from Bodmin Parkway station via Bodmin General railway station to Boscarne Junction where there is convenient access to the Camel Trail.

Bodmin Gaol, now a semi-ruin, was built in the late 18th century, and was the first British prison to hold prisoners in separate cells (though often up to 10 at a time) rather than communally. This grim place was also site of Britain's last public hanging in 1809. Also, during World War I the prison was deemed worthy to hold some of Britain's priceless national treasures including the Domesday Book and the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.

Other buildings of interest include the former Shire Hall, now a tourist information centre, and the Regimental Barracks of the now defunct Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, now a regimental museum. It includes the history of the regiment from 1702, plus a military library. The original barracks make the regimental museum and it was founded in 1925. There is a fine collection of small arms and machine guns, plus maps, uniforms, and paintings on display.

Town twinning

External links

Main Cornish Towns

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Bodmin

Town twinning

See also

External links