Bodmin is a considerable town, situated between two hills, nearly in the centre of the county, about 12 miles from each of the two channels. It is built upon the northern side of one of the hills, and principally consists of one long street, running east and west, rather badly paved.

This town formerly contained a priory, a cathedral, and thirteen churches or free chapels, of which the foundations and sites of some are still to be distinguished. The present church is reckoned the largest in the county, and is certainly very handsome within, but externally irregularly built. Before the see was removed to St. Germains, this was the cathedral of the diocese, and it belonged, as the conventual church, to the adjoining monastery of St.Petroc. Its spire was blown down by a violent storm of wind in 1699. Bodmin is a vicarage, valued in Liber Regis 131. 6s. 8d.

By a charter obtained in 1799, the municipal government is vested in twelve aldermen, twenty-four common councilmen, and a town-clerk. Bodmin must have been very early constituted a borough; for in an ancient record we find "the burgesses of Bodmin were fined 100s. anno 26 Henry If. for setting up a guild without warrant." The right of returning the representatives in Parliament is confined to the corporation. There are about 2050 inhabitants and 253 houses. There is a good grammar school in this town founded by Queen Elizabeth, with a small endowment annexed, to which is added a stipend from the corporation. A commodious county gaol, built about forty years ago according to the plans recommended by the late Mr. Howard, is situated very advantageously for air and salubrity about half a mile northwest of the town.

The county meetings are generally held here. The registry and court of the archdeacon of Cornwall are kept here. It was formerly a flourishing and extensive place, and famous for its manufactures.

In the month of July, on the Monday after St. Becket's day, there is a curious festival still celebrated at Bodmin, called Bodmin Riding. The common people ride out into the country, and, returning, proceed to the priory with garlands of flowers, which they there present according to immemorial usage, It is supposed that, originally, this offering of flowers was at the shrine of Thomas a Becker, and that the saint had the honour of superseding some Pagan deity.

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BODMIN, the capita of Cornwall, is a municipal borough, market and union town, head of a county court district, township and parish; in the South Eastern division of the county, hundred and petty sessional division of Trigg, rural deanery and archdeaconry of Bodmin and diocese of Truro. The town is pleasantly seated in a valley near the centre of the county, 32 miles from Plymouth, on the central road to the west, 34 from Falmouth, 20 north-east from Truro, 50 north-east from Penzance and 32 north-east from Redruth and 274 miles by rail from London.

The branch of the Great Western railway from Bodmin Road to Bodmin was opened for traffic in 1887. The Wadebridge branch railway, opened in 1888 for passenger and goods traffic, belongs, as far as Boscarn, exclusively to the Great Western Railway Co. who have running powers to Wadebridge on the London and South Western Co.’s line, which also connects Bodmin with Wadebridge by an independent route between Boscarn and Bodmin; this section has a new station near the gaol and is in connection with the North Cornwall line, which supplies the Launceston through route to London. The South Western Railway Company have another branch for goods and minerals to Wenford Bridge, in the parish of St. Breward, originally constructed in 1834 and acquired by the company in 1845.

Bodmin appears to have been possessed of municipal privileges, granted by its lord, from an early period, and the burgesses are mentioned in the Pipe Roll for 1190 (1 Richard I.), but until the dissolution of the priory the prior was the actual lord of the town, and all privileges held by the burgesses were received through the prior and convent. The earliest charter is that granted by Richard (Plantagenet), Earl of Poitou and Cornwall, and brother to Henry III. and this was confirmed by Edward I. in 1285, and succeeding monarchs up to and including Edward IV. In the reign of Elizabeth the town was regularly incorporated by charter dated nth March, 1562—3, but this instrument being found imperfect, a new charter was issued 30th April, 1594: James II. also granted a charter to the town 27th March, 1685, but this was annulled at the Revolution, and that of Elizabeth, which had been surrendered, was revived and remained in force until the issue of the charter of George III. 27th August, 1798, although the Corporation, owing to dissensions, had been practically extinct for the previous nine years. The Corporation, remodelled under the “Municipal Corporations Act, 1835” (5 and 6 William IV. c. 76), now consists of a mayor, four aldermen and 12 councillors, and acts as the urban sanitary authority; the borough has a commission of the peace. It returned two members to Parliament from 23 Edward I. (1294—5) until the “Representation of the People Act, 1867,” by which the number was reduced to one only; under the “Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885,” it was disfranchised as a borough and merged in the South Eastern division.

Bodmin has given the title of Viscount to the Roberts or Robartes family, Barons Roberts of Truro and Earls of Radnor, all which titles became extinct in 1764, but the Earldom of Radnor was revived in 1765 in favour of William (Pleydell Bouverie), 2nd Viscount Folkestone, and in 1869 Thomas James Agar-Robartes, of Lanhydrock and Truro, was created baron.

Various derivations have been suggested for its name, and among these “Bod-mynach” (Cym. Cel.), the dwelling of the monks; and “Bod-mynydd,” the dwelling in the hills. In 1351 Bodmin suffered severely from a visitation of the plague; in various years from 1563 to 1590 there was great mortality, and in 1571 a pestilence raged in the place with unusual virulence. From an early period the town was the scene of popular insurrections, especially in June, 1497, when Thomas Flammock or Flamank and Michael Joseph headed a rising against the taxes levied in order to pay the expenses of the war against the Scots. In September of the same year, the pretender, Perkin Warbeck, landing at Whitesand bay, near St. German’s, proceeded to Bodmin, and causing himself to be proclaimed there as Richard IV. then marched into Devonshire. In 1549 Bodmin was the centre of an insurrection in the west against the suppression of the monasteries and the changes in religious formularies: the malcontents, assembling in the town under Henry Bray, then mayor, and other leaders, marched out, and in July laid siege to Exeter, which the citizens bravely defended for 35 days, and were then relieved by the royal forces, the rebels being eventually defeated at Clifton Heath, 7th August, 1549, and driven back into Cornwall. During the Civil War the town was occupied alternately by both parties, and in 1642—3 was the head quarters of Sir Ralph Hopton just previous to his victorious engagement with the Parliamentary forces at Braddock Down, January 19, 1642—3; and the further success of the Royalists at Stratton, in the north of the county, 16th May, 1643, was the cause of the letter of thanks from Charles I. to the Cornish people, a copy of which is at Baldhu. In July, 1644, the Earl of Essex took possession of the town, and held it until driven out about August 10 by Sir Richard Grenville, who was joined on the day following by the king in person, but after a successful skirmish with the Roundheads at Tywardreth 31st August, 1644, the king finally left the county, and in 1645 Bodmin was again occupied by the Parliament. In 1769 an Act of Parliament was passed for improving the roads in and leading to the town, through which the chief highway now passed, and this Act was amended in various years from 1786 to 1835, and by 1836 two coaches ran daily through the town from London.

The town consists principally of one street, running east and west, from which others branch out; on the south side rises the Beacon Hill, which is crowned by the Gilbert obelisk; it is well paved and lighted with gas, and has a constant supply of water, derived from the moors on the north; the water is stored in a reservoir on the Beacon Hill, south of the town, from whence it is distributed through pipes. An Act of Parliament was obtained to supply the town with water (by gravitation) from Hametathy in the parish of St. Breward.

During the greater part of the 10th century the bishops of Cornwall were seated at Bodmin, and did not remove to St. German’s till about A.D. 980.

The church of St. Petrock, the largest parish church in Cornwall, is an edifice of stone, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, with some portions of Norman and Early English work, and consists of chancel and nave, together of nine bays, with aisles extending the whole length of both, south porch with parvise, and an embattled tower of three stages on the north side, with four tall pinnacles, and containing 8 bells, recast in 1767, and a clock with chimes: it is 151 feet in length by 65 wide, dimensions which correspond as nearly as possible with those given by the chronicler William of Worcester: the tower was originally surmounted by a spire, reaching a height, together with the tower, of 150 feet, but this was destroyed by lightning 9th December, 1699, and a sum of £227 was expended in repairing the damage done to the fabric and bells: the three easternmost bays are inclosed by wood screens, constructed in part from the old bench ends: the stained east window, presented in 1824 by Lord de Dunstanville, has been removed for the insertion of a more modern window: the south chancel aisle retains a piscina and a priest’s door: the rood screen was removed in 1775 : in the north chancel aisle is the tomb of Thomas Vivian, prior of Bodmin and titular bishop of Megara, ob. 1st June, 1533; this altar tomb, originally in the priory church, is of grey stone, about 7 feet long by 3 in height, and bears a recumbent effigy of the prior, vested, wearing a mitre and holding his pastoral staff; at the corners are mutilated figures of angels, and the panelled sides are enriched with figures of the Evangelists and of angels bearing the arms of the priory and those of Vivian: on the margin is an inscription in Lombardic capitals; the monument, as recorded on an inscribed brass on the top, was repaired in 1819 by Sir Vyell Vyvyan bart. and again more recently by the present Rev. Sir V. D. Vyvyan bart. : many ancient bench ends, besides those incorporated in the screens, remain, and some of these exhibit grotesque carvings: the pulpit and reading desk are also finely carved, and some of this work appears to have been executed in 1492 by one Matthy More, carpenter: the church has wagon roofs, ribbed and adorned with carved bosses, executed 1469—72, and exhibiting shields of arms and grotesques: the font is a fine example of the Transition Norman style; a Gothic cross, with a carving of the “Crucifixion,” is also preserved: the embattled south porch has a parvise of two stories, about 11 feet square and reached by a turret staircase on the north side; on the south front of the porch are three canopied niches: there are memorial windows in the church to the Rev. John Wallis M.A. 49 years vicar, d. 6th December, 1866; William Robert Hicks esq. mayor 1865—6; and two others, erected in 1891—2 to the officers and men of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, who fell in the Zulu and Egyptian campaigns of 1879 and 1882—5 : the church contains a large number of monuments and inscriptions, many being of early date: in the north chancel aisle is an ancient slab bearing a floriated cross and a marginal inscription to Thomas le Moyle, probably one of the mayors of that name in the first half of the 15th century; there is also a slab with incised cross and initials, and around the verge is an inscription to John Vyvyan, ob. 9th March, 1545 ; next the east wall is a slate slab inscribed to Richard Durant, mayor in 1611 and 1624, ob. 20th May, 1632, and Loveday (Mitchell), ob. 1589, and Katheren (Turny), ob. 1608, his wives, and has 10 English verses and effigies of the wives and. 20 children: near the prior’s tomb is a stone with inscription to Thomas Corye, mayor, 1591, ob. February, 1592; a broken slab, with part of an achievement of arms, has also a mutilated legend to William Kendall, ob. 17th December, 1604, and an epitaph of 10 Latin lines; on the floor is also a slab with the arms of Maynard impaling Michell, probably commemorating Nicholas Maynard and Jane (Michell), his wife, ob. ilia 1610; next it is another inscribed to Philip Michell esq. and Blanche (Carminow), his wife, ob. ilia 13th September, 1673: there are mural slabs in the north aisle, with shields of arms, to Bernard Flamank, ob. 25th October, 1658, and his wives Elizabeth (Rouse), ob. 1632, and Bridget (Tremayne): a ledger of slate with the arms of the Merchant Adventurers, and an effigy and inscription to Peter Bolt, merchant, ob. 26th July, 1633 ; here also is a mural tablet to Cicely (Ward), wife of Bernard Achym, ob. 13th June, 1639, with incised kneeling effigy and 20 English rhyming lines, a shield of arms, and emblems, and the fragments of another memorial cemented and framed, with portions of an inscription to a lady of the Achym family, ob. 1557; the south chancel aisle has a stone to John Bullock, gent. ob. 1658, and a marble slab to Charles Blight, gent, mayor 1658 and 1677, ob. nth December, 1684, and Elizabeth his wife, ob. 1701; in the corresponding north aisle is a monument to Edward Hoblyn, gent. ob. 28th December, 1688 : there are besides a number of ancient memorials in an imperfect condition, and those of modern date record the names of four vicars, viz. :-Jasper Wood M.A. 37 years vicar, d. 1716; Anthony Hosken B.D. 36 years vicar, d. 21st November, 1766; John Wallis M.A. mentioned above, and John Pomeroy M.A. 35 years vicar, d. 17th August, 1813, as well as of the Gilbert, Moyle, Oakley, Liddell, Pennington and other families: the church was partly rebuilt, 1469—72, and the west front in 1814; the later restoration has been carried on, at intervals, from about 1867 up to 1886, at a cost, including windows and other gifts, of over £10,000; the organ was renovated in 1893: the arms of the see of Truro at the west end were carved by Hems of Exeter in 1877: there are 700 sittings : the church is surrounded by a churchyard, at the east end of which, and adjoining the vicarage garden, is the chantry chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr, an elegant structure of the Decorated period, forming a parallelogram, the length internally being 44 feet 9 inches and the width 18 feet, with a porch on the south side: the east window Has elegant tracery, and in the south wall are triple sedilia and a piscina; below the chapel is a vaulted crypt; the building is now in a decayed state, and overgrown with ivy: in the church was also a chantry dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and endowed in 1474 by Stephen Naylor, of Bodmin. The registers of baptisms and burials date from the year 1558 ; marriages, 1559; all are in an excellent state of preservation, and there is an Index Nominum, compiled by the Rev. J. Wallis, a former vicar. The churchwardens’ accounts, preserved by the Corporation, begin in 1484. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £250, with residence, in the gift of A. F. Basset esq. of Tehidy, and held since 1895 by the Rev. Henry Kemble Southwell M.A. of Magdalen College, Oxford.

St. Leonard’s chapel of ease, at the west end of the town, is a small rectangular building of stone, formerly used as a stable; it was improved in 1884 at a cost of £150, and has 150 sittings. There was anciently a chapel of the same name further west.

The Mission church at Nanstallon, erected in 1884, in connection with the parish church, is a building of stone in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel and aisles, and has 80 sittings.

The Catholic church and Priory are at Town End; the church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a small building of stone, consisting of chancel and nave, and has sittings for 110 persons.

The Bible Christian chapel, Bore street, was built in 1851, and will hold 400 persons. The Wesleyan Methodist chapel, Fore street, erected in 1803 and rebuilt in 1839, was enlarged and partly rebuilt in 1887, and will seat 850 persons.

The Free Methodist chapel, Pool street, was built in 1842, and has 400 sittings.

Lady Huntingdon’s chapel, Fore street, erected in 1871 at a cost of over £2,000, is a building of local stone, with Bath stone dressings in the Gothic style, and has sittings for 400 persons.

The Cemetery, at the top of Rhind street, belongs to the town. The Nonconformist body erected a mortuary chapel in 1893 from designs by Mr. Menear Oliver: the Cemetery is controlled by the vicar and churchwardens and by a Nonconformist cemetery committee; in the oldest portion, originally glebe belonging to the vicarage, stands the ruined tower of the ancient church of the Holy Rood, destroyed at the time of the Reformation; two acres, purchased for a sum of £300, belong to the church, one acre, bought for £100, to the Nonconformists, and three acres have been added, at a cost of £350, by the Urban Sanitary Authority.

The Town Hall, or Guildhall, is in Fore street. The insignia of the Corporation include four maces, a mayor’s chain, and a corporate seal: the two smaller and earlier maces, 15 ¾ inches in length, are of silver, with semi-globular heads, on the flat top of which are the royal arms of James I. the initials I. R. and the date 1618 : the two great maces of silver-gilt, 2 feet 8 ½ inches long, form a pair, and are alike in every respect: the shafts, richly chased and banded, have spreading bases, and open scroll brackets support the heads, divided by winged and foliaged female figures into four compartments, containing the national emblems, crowned; from the cresting above spring open arched crowns, surmounted by the orb and cross; on the flat top of the heads are the royal arms and supporters of William HI. and Mary, and the motto “ie mein tien dray” (Je maintiendrai), and on the flat base of the shaft a representation of the town seal and an inscription in Latin showing the maces to have been presented in 1690 by Charles Bodvill (Robartes), 2nd Earl of Radnor: the corporate seal of silver is vesica-shaped and represents a king (probably AEthelstan) sitting on a canopied throne; above is a triple-towered castle and round the verge a legend. The Corporation also possess a two-handled silver loving-cup, with cover, 17 inches high, presented in 1760 by Sir William Irby bart. afterwards Baron Boston, and a silver snuff-box, given in 1812 by the Rev. William Flamank D.D. then mayor. The very ancient and curious ivory casket or reliquary now held by the Corporation is traditionally that in which, according to Benedict, abbot of Peterborough, Roger, prior of Bodmin, brought back the relics of the blessed St. Petrock, which had been carried away to Brittany by Martin, one of the canons of Bodmin, in 1177; the casket is 18 inches long, 10 high and 12 in width, the sides of the cover being sloped off, and is formed of thin plates of ivory, fastened with ivory rivets and banded and clamped with brass-work ; the exterior is ornamented with medallions of interlaced work and quaint figures of birds in gold and colours; and on the top is a small square handle; in the opinion of competent critics this highly interesting reliquary dates from the 12th century, and is of Oriental workmanship. The mayor wears a robe of scarlet cassemire, trimmed with sable and black velvet and lined with white silk; the ex-mayor wears a robe of blue mazarine trimmed with black bear skin; the town clerk, mace bearers and crier also wear robes. The mayor’s chain, presented to the Corporation about 1893, consists of gold links, alternating with the letter B, a gold and enamelled central link, and pendants charged with the royal arms, the arms of the county, the town badge and other devices.

The County Hall and Assize Courts, in Mount Folly square, in which the assizes and quarter sessions and county courts are held, were erected in 1837 under a private Act of Parliament, obtained in the previous year, and form a plain but substantial building of granite ashlar, from designs by Mr. Burt, of Launceston: up to the time of their erection the assizes had generally been divided between this town and Launceston, and were held here in the ancient church of the Grey Friars, the last portion of which was taken down to make room for the new public rooms.

The Mayoralty House is a building of stone, erected by the Corporation near the same site, for the use of the judges during the assizes.

Bodmin Public Rooms, erected in 1892, at a cost of £3,500, from designs by Messrs. Railing and Tonar, architects, of Exeter, form a handsome building of local stone and granite with freestone dressings, occupying part of the site of the ancient Franciscan monastery, some remains of which were removed to make room for it. It comprises a large hall 80 feet by 40 feet, with a stage at the northern end, a small hail and cloak and dressing rooms: the building is heated throughout by hot water and well lighted: the large hall will hold 800 people and is let for concerts, meetings, entertainments&c.

The public library and reading room now (1897) being erected in Fore street, through the munificence of J. Passmore Edwards esq. who has given £2,000, occupies a very convenient site, acquired by the Corporation from Lord Robartes. The building is of Margatewood stone, with Bath stone dressings and a basement of Luxulyan granite, from designs by Mr. S. Trevail, architect, of Truro. The ground floor will be devoted to a lending library and reading room, the upper storey to a museum and a suite of class rooms for use in connection with the County Council scheme of technical education.

The Literary Institute, situated in Mount Folly square, was established in 1843 and has a library: the building was formerly part of the old poor-house, and has been granted by the town for the purposes of the institute.

Bodmin is the head quarters of the county police, who are under the control of a joint committee of magistrates and county councillors. The police act also in the town, but are controlled in this respect by the Borough Council. The County Police Station, opposite to the Priory, was erected about 1867, from the designs of Mr. Goodyear.

Her Majesty’s prison, formerly the County Gaol, at Berrycombe (Burcom), about half a mile north-west of the town, on the slope of an eminence facing southwards to the valley, was originally erected under a local Act of Parliament, 18 George III. c. 17 (1777—8), and rebuilt in 1855—58 from designs by Mr. Porter, architect, of London ; it includes cells for 129 prisoners, residences for the governor and chaplain, and a chapel: in 1888 two blocks of buildings formerly used for imprisoned debtors and women, were detached, and constituted by Admiralty warrant a Royal Naval prison, and were opened as such 3rd April in that year.

The County Lunatic Asylum, a little to the west of the town on a site of about nine acres, granted to the Corporation, consists of eight blocks of buildings radiating from a centre, with annexes and detached blocks subsequently erected and residences for the various officers: the first portion, for 100 patients, was built in 1820, from the designs of Mr. Foulstone, architect, of Plymouth, at a cost of £16,019 : in 1842 the “high building” was added, at a cost of £3,757, from designs by Mr. G. Wightwick, architect, of Plymouth, and in 1848 a “new building,” from plans by the same architect, was built for £6,000: a further enlargement was made in 1867 by the erection of the Carew block, at an expense of £6,662, from the designs of Messrs. Norman and Hine, of Plymouth; in 1873 an additional building was erected, and in 1884, another, which, together with its site, cost upwards of £20,000, was built from the designs of Mr. Norman, of Devonport, and Messrs. Hine and Odgers, of Plymouth; it consists of a main block, 375 feet in length, with wings, and a covered way connecting it with the other buildings of the asylum, affording a walk of about 330 yards in length; communicating with the block is a dining and recreation hall; the asylum is now available for 760 patients. In an outer inclosure is the chapel, erected 1859—61, at a cost, with subsequent enlargement, of £1,515; it consists of apsidal chancel, nave of several bays, south aisle, transept, porches and vestry and a turret containing one bell; below the chapel is a crypt: there are sittings for about 250 persons. The Visiting Committee meets on the last Monday in each month.

The Masonic Hall is in Turf street.

The M. U. of Oddfellows hold their meetings at the Bodmin Coffee tavern and the Foresters have a hall in Fore street.

The Barracks of the Military Depot, occupied by the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, occupy a conspicuous position on the Lostwithiel road; there is an inclosed drill ground. The 1st battalion (32nd Foot) and 2nd battalion (46th Foot) and 3rd battalion Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry (Royal Cornwall Rangers Militia) form the 32nd Regimental District.

The head quarters of the 2nd Volunteer battalion of Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry are also in the town.

The Market House, in Fore street, was erected by the Corporation in 1839—40, at a cost of £3,000, for meat, poultry and butter. The market is held here every Saturday. On the site of the former butter market is a clock turret, containing a clock, presented to the town by Capt. Collins R.N. of Trewardale, Blisland.

Fairs for cattle and horses are held on January 25, on one day at Easter and on two days at Whitsuntide, July 6 and December 6. A cattle market is held the first Monday in every month except those on which fairs are held.

Sandoe’s Royal hotel, in the centre of the town, is extensive, conveniently arranged and well conducted.

The “Town Arms” is also a convenient and well managed house.

The East Cornwall Hospital and Dispensary, Mount Folly square, established in 1844, is a building of stone, arranged to receive 15 in-patients, and is entirely supported by voluntary contributions: the average annual number of in-patients is 64 and of out-patients 616.

St. Gurton's Orphanage, established in January, 1865, and certificated for receiving pauper children, is for the maintenance of 14 girls from 10 to 16 years old: they are educated and trained for domestic service and situations found for them on reaching a proper age, and when out of place from any cause except misconduct, they are again received into the home: the orphanage is supported by a few small subscriptions, laundry work, rent of rooms let, and payments with any children who have friends in a position to render assistance: for such children as are received from the various unions in the county, the guardians allow 2s. a week each until they reach the age of 13: the home is under the management of the Rev. H. K. Southwell, vicar of Bodmin, and is regularly visited and reported upon by the Government and Diocesan inspectors.

The principal charities are Chamond’s, or the Dunmere charity, founded in 1624 by John Chamond, and derived from 7a. or. 25p. of land, the income from which is distributed in blankets; Brown’s, of £250, invested in 3 per Cent. Consolidated Annuities, and distributed on New Year’s day by the mayor, in sums of 2s. 6d. among the poor of the borough and parish ; and Pope’s of £20, arising from the benefaction (March 13th, 1813) of William Pope, of Bodmin, yeoman, and distributed at Christmas and Easter, in sums of 2s. by the vicar and churchwardens.

On the Beacon hill, about a quarter of a mile south of the town, is a monument, erected in 1856—7, to Lieut.-Gen. Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert bart. G.C.B. of the Bengal Army, a distinguished commander in the Indian campaigns of 1845—6, who died May 10, 1853; the memorial consists of an obelisk 144 feet in height, on a square base, the whole being of local granite; on the south face of the monument, on a projecting slab, is a long inscription recording his public services.

Bodmin was for a long time the residence of the eminent mechanician, Lawrence Holker Potts M.D. some time medical superintendent of the Comity Lunatic Asylum there, who invented the hydraulic pile-driving apparatus.

Antiquities.-Several ancient roads are still traceable in the parish; one of these to the north-east passes from the direction of Pencarrow near the eastern side of Dunmere Camp and towards Boscarne; another, branching from it, runs from Boscarne and by the ford of the river Alan to Castle Kynoe, or Canyke, and a third skirts this entrenchment on the south and east, branching north-east to Cardinham. There is a tumulus on the west side of Castle Canyke and others on the downs in the neighbourhood, but three formerly on Beacon hill have disappeared. Castle Kynoc, or Canyke, one mile south-east, is a nearly circular earthwork, consisting of ramparts, now much broken up, inclosing an area of about 18 acres, and, being situated at a height of 520 feet above the sea level, affords an extensive view. Dunmere Camp, situated in the wood of that name, about 2 miles north-west, is an entrenchment of oval shape commanding the Alan valley, with a single vallum, broken only by the entrance at the north-east, and a fosse from 8 to 18 feet deep; Tregaer Camp, near Nanstallon, about 2 ½ miles west, discovered about 1810, is a Roman work, originally forming a parallelogram nearly 110 by 86 yards, but only portions of the vallum on the north, west and south sides now remain; near the site copper coins of Vespasian (A.D. 70—79) and a brass coin of Trajan (A.D. 98—117) have been found, a piece of earthenware stamped with the potter’s mark LESBIVS F(ECIT) and several pieces of red Samian ware, bronze objects &c. Within the limits of the parish of Bodmin several interesting examples of ancient crosses still exist, one of these, 7 feet 8 inches in height, with a round head, has been set upon a new square base, attached to which is a small semi-circular trough; the whole now forms a drinking-fountain and stands near the Prison: a similar cross, 6 feet 4 inches high, once near the top of Castle Street hill, now covers a well in a neighbouring meadow: within the cemetery at the Berry and close to the tower is another round-headed cross, 4 feet 3 inches high. Carminow Cross, which stands by the road, south-east of Castle Canyke, is broken, but has a fine round head, 3 feet across, pierced with four holes. At Calliwith, some distance north-east of the town, is another cross, 5 feet 3 inches high, also round-headed, but with the arms of the cross projecting: in the churchyard stands part of the shaft of a cross, 3 feet 4 inches in height, the sides of which are ornamented with figures, rudely carved: the square head of a cross, possibly belonging to this shaft, also remains; it was pinnacled at the top, and on a panel on one side is a sculptured group of the “Crucifixion”; at the ends are figures of bishops.

Scarlet's Well, probably deriving its name from a family of Scarlet residing here in the 14th century, is a fine spring or well about a mile west of the town, remarkable for its purity and abundance, and is still reputed to possess medicinal qualities.

Towards the end of the 5th century a recluse, afterwards canonized as St. Guron or Goran, founded a hermitage in the valley, then densely wooded, where the town of Bodmin now stands; here he was visited, as is supposed, by Petrock, a Cornish chieftain, who afterwards proceeded to the monastery of Clonard, co. Meath, Ireland, for the purpose of theological study, and on his return, the hermitage being resigned to him by Goran, he founded a monastery on the spot, under the rule of St. Benedict, a site being given by Constantine II. (542—6), successor of the famous King Arthur, and here he was buried; the place was burned by the Danes in 981 and at the Conquest the priory was despoiled of much of its landed property; William Warlewast, bishop of Exeter (1107—36), refounded it for Austin Canons; it was eventually surrendered 27th February, 1538, by Thomas Wandsworth, prior, Richard Oliver, sub-prior and nine canons, the lands of the monastery being then about 110 acres, and the income £170; the site and lands were sold by the king, 2nd June, 1545, to Thomas Sternhold, groom of the robes to Henry VIII. but better known as a versifier of the Psalms, for the sum of £1,000; the property was subsequently held by the Rashleigh and Pennington families, by whom the buildings were pulled down or largely altered; the church (95 by 50 feet) having been already destroyed; and afterwards it passed to Sir Elijah Impey kt. some time a judge at Calcutta, and being thereafter resumed by the Penningtons, descended by marriage to the Gilbert family, to whom the estate now belongs; some fragments of carved stone from the priory buildings may be seen in the priory grounds on one side of the road east of the church, where the monastery stood.

The house of Grey or Franciscan friars here was certainly in existence in 1253, but the circumstances of its foundation are uncertain, although the Plantagenets, Earls of Cornwall, and one John de London, a merchant, appear to have shared in establishing it; the site of this house was at Mount Folly, and within its precincts were buried Sir Hugh Peverel kt. and Sir Thomas Peverel kt. both benefactors to the friary. This monastery was dissolved, with the other lesser houses, in 1546, and the site and buildings granted to the Vyvyan family, from whom they were purchased in 1566 by the Corporation; the friary church, a fine structure 150 feet in length by 60 high, with a large east window of the Decorated period, long served as an assize court, but was removed in 1837 for the erection of the new courts, and in the course of this work a skeleton was discovered in a tomb built into one of the walls, and many graves were met with under the flooring: columns from the interior are to be seen in the town, one of which was placed in the churchyard by the Rev. John Wallis, late vicar; another has been erected in the lobby of the Public Rooms : the gate house in Fore street, now converted into a dwelling house, and occupied by C. F. Zimber, jeweller, was madernised in 1854—5, and more recently its external details, which had been plastered over, were demolished and replaced by new work. In the market house is preserved a singular stone vessel belonging to the friary, which served as a corn measure; it is octagonal in shape, and bears the inscription, “How ever ye sell. B. F. 1563. Your measure fyll. R. F. 1826.”; there is also here an ancient bell, brought from the friary, and 1 foot 4 inches across at the mouth, the surface of which is relieved by a series of horizontal ridges: it is now rung at the opening and closing of the market.

There were formerly several ancient chapels, one of which was attached to a lazar house which existed in the 13th century; the chapel was consecrated by Thomas Brentingham, bishop of Exeter, 27th August, 1382; the hospital received from Queen Elizabeth, 9th March, 1582, a charter of incorporation, and James I. conferred upon it additional privileges; it consisted as a corporate body of a master or governor and 39 brethren and sisters, “being leprous people,” but towards the end of the 18th century such persons could not be found to maintain the foundation, and in 1805, by an Order of the Court of Chancery, the hospital estates were transferred to the County Infirmary, which is therefore now bound to receive any leprous persons who may claim the benefits of this charity; the chapel, which in 1814 was ruinous and used as a stable, has now entirely disappeared.

The chapel of St. Leonard was near Town End and that of St. Nicholas at the top of St. Nicholas street. Remains of its burial ground were discovered in the course of excavating for the site of the Great Western Railway station.

The chapel of St. Anthony stood in Chapel lane, and that of St. George in another part of the town; near the town were also chapels of St. Anne and St. Margaret at Chapel Hays and Margate respectively.

The number of guilds and fraternities once existing here was very considerable, and as many as 45 are found recorded ; the guild of the Holy Rood, established at the Berry, was one of the most prominent, and had a chapel with a burial ground annexed; the ruined tower of the chapel is still standing, and the burial ground, forming part of the vicarage glebe, was inclosed with adjoining land, in 1859, to form a new cemetery.

A large number of tokens were issued by traders in this town during the 17th century, of which several examples, bearing the names of Harris, Manaton and Wills, are extant.

The Curfew is still rung here at 8 o’clock in the evening, and a curious custom called “Paul’s Pitcher” used to be observed on the eve (January 24th) of the festival of St. Paul, when, after nightfall, boys stole along the streets, and threw pitchers into such doorways as might be left open: the ancient practice of viewing the borough boundaries, was revived and duly celebrated during Rogationtide 1866, by the late W. R. Hicks esq. then mayor.

Mr. M. H. Marks is lord of the manor, the principal landowners are Lords Robartes and Vivian, the Molesworth family, F. J. Hext esq. Major Shanks, the Hoblyn family, B. F. Edyvean esq. Captain C. E. Serjeant, the Rev. W. R. Gilbert M.A., W. J. Penny esq. and Truro Infirmary.

The area of the municipal borough is 2,785, and of the entire parish 6,191 acres; rateable value of the borough, £17,331; and beyond the borough, £3,098; the population of the municipal borough in 1891 was 5,151, including officers and inmates in the workhouse, H. M. Prisons, the Barracks and County Lunatic Asylum.

The outlying hamlets are NANSTALLON, 2 miles west, and ST. LAWRENCE, 1 mile west-south-west, the latter is noted for its fairs, which are among the largest and best attended in the county, and are held on October 29th for sheep, and October 30th for horses and bullocks; also for sheep, bullocks and horses on August 21st.

BODMIN UNION

Board day, alternate Saturdays, at 1.30 p.m. at the Board room, Workhouse.

The following parishes & places constitute the Union:-Blisland, Bodmin borough & parish, Cardynham, Egloshayle, Endellion, Helland, St. Kew, Lanhydrock, Lanivet, Lanlivery, Lostwithiel, Luxulyan, St. Mabyn, St. Minver Highlands, St. Minver Lowlands, Temple, St. Tudy, Warleggan, St. Winnow & Withiel. The area of the union is 87,752 acres; rateable value, £99,003; the population in 1891 was 18,194.

The Workhouse, near the top of Rhind street, built in 1842, at a cost of about £5,000, is a plain but substantial stone building & will hold 250 inmates.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of services

St. Petrock’s Church, Rev. Henry Kemble Southwell M.A. vicar; Rev. Richard Carmichael Brabazon B.A. & Rev. Herbert Lynne Jones, curates; Sundays, 7.15, 8, 10 & 11.15 a.m. & 3 & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 7.40 & 8 a.m. & 5.30 p.m. except Thursdays when it is 7.30.

St. Leonard’s Chapel of Ease; 6.30 p.m.

Church Mission Chapel, Nanstallon; Sun. 3 & 7 p.m.

Catholic Church of St. Mary, St. Leonard’s, Very Rev. Father Joseph O’Conner C.R.L. prior; mass, 8 & 11 a.m. ; vespers, 3.30 p.m. & devotions, sermon & benediction, 6.30 p.m.; holy days of obligation, mass, 8 & 10 a.m.; daily mass, 7.15 & 8 a.m.

Lady Huntingdon’s, Fore street, Rev. William James Bull; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

United Free Church, Pool street, Rev. E. Lang; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

United Free Church, Fletcher’s bridge; 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.; alternate Thur. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan Methodist, Fore street, Rev. G. Bolderston & Rev. J. G. Brown; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Bible Christian, Higher Bore street, Rev. James Seldon; 11 a.m. & 6 p.m. ; Tues. 7.30 p.m.

Salvation Army Barracks, John Thomas Skinner, capt. services, 7 & 11 a.m. & 3 & 6.30 p.m. on Sun; dalily,8 p.m.

SCHOOLS

A School Board of 5 members was formed for the municipal borough in 1871.

Board (boys, girls & infants), Beacon hill, built in 1895, at a cost of £2,500, for 430 children; average attendance, 124 boys, 90 girls & 85 infants.

National (boys, girls & infants), New Road, built in 1864, on a site given by Lord Robartes, at a cost of £1,150, for 200 boys, 200 girls & 150 infants; average attendance, 131 boys, 108 girls & 132 infants.