Bodmin
OS Grid ref:- SX071665
The town of Bodmin, known in Cornish as Bosvenegh, was once the county town of Cornwall and is the only Cornish town to be recorded in the Domesday Book. The name is said to derive from the Cornish Bodminachau, meaning 'the town of the monks'.
Bodmin's characterful streets boast a number of buildings of historic interest , including the Turret Clock, which marks the site of the ancient Butter Market, the Assize Hall, Shire Hall, which now serves as the tourist information centre and Bodmin Gaol, which has now been converted into a museum and is open to the public.
Bodmin Beacon towers above the town, the 144 feet high obelisk is dedicated to Lt. Gen. Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert (1785-1853), a descendant of the Elizabethan sailors Raleigh and Gilbert. The Bodmin Beacon Local Nature Reserve contains 83 acres of public land and at its highest point it reaches 162 metres.
St. Petroc's Church at Bodmin, the largest church in the county, dates from the Norman era although earlier churches dating back to the sixth century have occupied the site. The church was rebuilt in the fifteenth century in the Cornish perpendicular style and heavily restored in the nineteenth century. The large font dates to the twelfth century while the misericords are much earlier than the church and are no longer attached to the choir stalls. The relics of St. Petroc are kept in an ivory casket which dates to the twelfth century. They were at one time stolen and taken to Brittany by an Augustinian monk but were later recovered by Prior Roger of Bodmin, who was aided in his enterprise by King Henry II. All that now remains of the once great Bodmin Abbey is a few fragments and a fishpond.
The Barracks of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry are now housed in the Regimental Museum, where the regiment's interesting history is related, the museum also contains an excellent collection of small arms and machine guns.
Bodmin Gaol, (pictured right) is purported to be haunted, it dates to 1778 and was built to replace the Debtor's Prison, which now serves as the Hole-In-The-Wall Public House. It was the first prison in the country to have separate cells and bears the further distinction of being the site of the last public hanging in Britain, which took place in 1909. A total of 55 people were hanged at the jail, of which 51 were public hangings. This was regarded as major spectator sport in the nineteenth century. Exhibits include some of the more notorious prisoners with details of their crimes. Tours of the dungeons are available, there is also a restaurant and licensed bar on site.
The Bodmin and Wenford Railway is Cornwall's only standard gauge railway still operated by steam locomotives and the trains and runs through some superb Cornish scenery. The Railway is typical of a branch line in the 1950's. Great Western steam tank engines are the main locomotives to be seen here but diesel traction is also used, particularly on Saturdays. The main station on the line is at Bodmin General. where the engine sheds are situated, there is also a Souvenir shop and refreshment room in the restored station buildings.
The town is situated on the Saints Way Long Distance Footpath which runs for 42 km (26 miles) from Padstow to Fowey.