Helstone

Coordinates: 50°36′01″N 4°42′10″W / 50.60018°N 4.70284°W

Approaching Helstone village

Helstone (Cornish: Hellys^[1]) is a hamlet in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated two miles (3 km) southwest of Camelford on the A39 road.^[2]

History

Helstone (or Helston in Trigg) was in the Middle Ages one of the chief manors of the Hundred of Trigg and perhaps in Celtic times the seat of a chieftain. In the Domesday Book this manor was held by Earl Robert of Mortain: there were 2 hides, land for 15 ploughs; the lord had 4 ploughs & 18 serfs; 20 villagers & 18 smallholders had 8 ploughs; 10 acres (40,000 m²) of woodland; 6 square leagues of pasture; five kinds of livestock, in total 195 beasts.^[3] The manor of Penmayne was a dependency of this manor. It was one of the 17 Antiqua maneria of the Duchy of Cornwall.

The name Helstone is related to that of the Iron Age fort Hellesbury: it is from the Cornish hen + lis (old court) with the later addition of Anglo-Saxon tun.

References

1. "Place-names in the Single Written Form" (PDF). Maga Kernow - Cornish Language Partnership. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
2. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 Newquay & Bodmin ISBN 978-0-319-22938-5
3. Thorn, Caroline; Thorn, Frank (1979). "Entry 5.1.4 Helstone". In Morris, John. Domesday Book: Cornwall. History from the Sources: Domesday Book. 10. Padel, Oliver translation. Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0850331560.