Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for TINTAGEL

TINTAGEL, a parish in Camelford district, Cornwall; on the coast, 5 miles NW of Camelford, and 17 N of Bodmin-Road r. station. It contains the villages of Bossiney, Tregatta, and Trevena; the last of which has a post-office under Camelford. Acres, 4,350; of which 70 are water. Real property, £4,013; of which £156 are in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 1,084; in 1861, 900. Houses, 204. The manor belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall. T. Castle stood on a cliff about 300 feet high; is alleged to have been the birthplace and the residence of King Arthur; was known, at Domesday, as Dunchine, signifying "Chain Castle;" became, soon after the Norman conquest, a residence of the Earls of Cornwall; gave entertainment, in 1245, to David, Prince of Wales; passed afterwards to the Crown; was used occasionally as a prison till the time of Elizabeth; went then into neglect on account of the great cost which had been incurred in keeping it in repair; and is now represented by dark and sombre ruins. Legends respecting King Arthur abound in connexion with the castle; and some of them are graphically embodied in the poetry of Warton. Slate rocks around the castle's site, have been weathered into curious and grotesque forms, variously columnar and cavernous; and some of the excavated ones are whimsically called "King Arthur's cups and saucers" The quarrying of slate was largely carried on, but has greatly diminished. Rock crystals, moonstone, and other interesting minerals, have been plentifully found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £268.* Patrons, the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The church is very old; includes remains of Saxon architecture, and considerable portions of Norman; belonged once to Fontevrault abbey in Normandy; was given, by Edward IV., to the Dean and Canons of Windsor; and was recently restored. There are three dissenting chapels and a national school.


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

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Tintagel CP/AP       Camelford RegD/PLU       Cornwall AncC
Place names: DUNCHINE     |     TINTAGEL
Place: Tintagel

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