Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BOSCASTLE

BOSCASTLE, a village and a subdistrict in Camelford district, Cornwall. The village is in the parishes of Minster and Forrabury; stands ½ a mile from the coast, 5½ miles N of Camelford; occupies a romantic site on the sides of hills, overhanging two deep vales; and has a post office‡ under Camelford, a ruined-ancient chapel, and a Methodist chapel. It was once a market-town, and still has fairs on the first Thursday of May, 5 Aug., and 27 Nov. Its name is a corruption of Bottreaux-Castle; and was taken from a baronial mansion, the seat of the Norman family of De Bottreaux, which stood on what is now a green mound. The manor went, in the time of Henry VI., by marriage, to Lord Hungerford; descended to the Earls of Huntingdon; passed to the Marquis of Hastings, who takes from it the title of Baron Bottreaux; and was purchased by the late T. R. Avery, Esq. Boscastle Port, at the nearest part of the coast, is the harbour of the village; lies in the debouch of a narrow, high-flanked vale; has a small pier and breakwater; and carries on an export coasting trade in corn, slates, and mangauese. The scenery around the village is strikingly picturesque; and that on the coast, very grand. The subdistrict comprises seven parishes. Acres, 17,368. Pop., 2,429. Houses, 530.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a subdistrict"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Camelford RegD/PLU       Cornwall AncC
Place: Boscastle

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