Bodmin

Bodmin lies southwest of the high, open expanse of Bodmin Moor, at a place where routes crossed the central Cornish landscape. Its Cornish name, probably derived from Bod-meneghy, means the dwelling by a monastic sanctuary. Recorded spellings such as Botmenei and Bodman show how the name changed gradually in medieval documents. This religious origin and road position shaped the town’s early identity.

Local history holds that Saint Petroc founded a monastery at Bodmin in the sixth century. By the Norman Conquest, the monastery had lost some lands, yet it still held eighteen manors in 1086, including Bodmin, Padstow and Rialton. Bodmin was then the only large Cornish settlement entered in the Domesday Book. Its market and religious institutions served a wide rural district.

The medieval settlement grew into a borough with responsibilities extending into the surrounding parish. In the fifteenth century the Norman church of St Petroc was largely rebuilt, leaving a major architectural landmark. Bodmin later became the county town in when the main courts moved from Launceston, although Truro gradually took over county functions in the following century. The town’s inland position and monastic foundation distinguish it from Cornwall’s coastal ports.