LAUNCESTON, a parish and borough and market-town,
possessing separate jurisdiction, though locally
in the northern division of
East hundred, county of CORNWALL, 20 miles (N.E.
byE.) from Bodmin, and
213 (W. S. W.) from London,
containing, exclusively
of those portions of the borough
which extend beyond
the limits of the parish,
The ancient name of Launceston
was Dunheved, the swelling hill: it was also called Lanstephadon,
or Church Stephen Town. Its present
name seems to be a contraction of Lan-cester-ton, or
Church Castle Town; the word Llan signifying a
church in the British language. The manor and honour
of Launceston, which had a very extensive jurisdiction,
belonged from time immemorial to the Earls
of. Cqrnwall, who had their chief seat at Launceston
castle; it was given by William the Conqueror to
his half-brother, Robert, Earl of Montaigne, whom he
made Earl of Cornwall. The church of the parish of
St. Stephen, now the borough of Newport, adjoining to
Launceston, and considered as part of it, was made
collegiate, before the Conquest, for Secular canons. King
Henry I. gave this college to the church of Exeter. Reginald,
Earl of Cornwall, was a great benefactor to
the college of St. Stephen, and used all his influence
with King Stephen to remove the bishop's see from
Devonshire to Cornwall, and constitute this the cathedral
church; but it was successfully opposed by
William Warlewast, Bishop of Exeter, who, being then
resident at Lawhitton, on his first triennial visitation,
suppressed the college of Secular canons, and in its stead
founded a priory of Augustine monks, in the parish of
St. Thomas, about half-way between St. Stephen's and
the castle. The castle of Launceston passed with the
earldom; and when Cornwall was erected into a duchy,
was annexed to it by act of parliament. Hubert de Burgh,
who had large possessions in Cornwall, was made governor
of the castle, and sheriff for the county, by King
Jfihn. From its strong position, and its situation at the
entrance into the county, this castle was an important
post during the parliamentary war. It was at first in
the hands of the parliament, and under the governorship
of Sir Richard Buller, who, on the approach of Sir
Ralph Hopton with the king's forces, quitted the town
and fled. In 1643, Sir Ralph was attacked by Major-
General Chudleigh, without success. In August, 1644,
the place was surrendered to the earl of Essex, but fell
into the hands of the royalists again after the capitulation
of the earl's army. In 1645, the Prince of Wales
sojourned for some time in Launceston. In November
of the same year the town was fortified, by Sir Richard
Grenville, who, being at variance with Lord Goring,
another of the king's generals, caused proclamation to
be made in all the churches of Cornwall, that if any of
Lord Goring's forces should come into Cornwall, the
bells should ring, and the people rise to drive them out.
Shortly after. Sir Richard Grenville, having refused to
take the chief command of the infantry under Lord
Hopton, as generalissimo, was committed to the prison
of Launceston, Colonel Basset being then the governor;
who, in March, 1646, surrendered the place to Sir
Thomas Fairfax. In the time of the Commonwealth, the
castle and park, being put up to sale by the government,
were purchased by Robert Bennet, Esq., but on the
Restoration, they reverted to the crown.
The town is pleasantly situated near the western
bank of the Tamar, on a steep ascent, at the foot of
which is the little river Attery; on the summit of a
hill is a high conical rocky mount, partly natural, and
partly artificial, upon which the keep of the ancient castle,
with a Norman gateway and part of the outer walls,
is still standing: some portions of the old town wall,
and the north and south gates, one of which is on the
Exeter road, also remain. There are a few good houses,
but the streets are in general narrow and badly paved;
the inhabitants are well supplied with water, which is
brought by pipes from Dunheved Green; on the north
side of the church is a pleasant promenade, shaded by
an avenue of trees, and commanding a fine prospect over
the adjacent country. Assemblies are held at the White
Hart inn during the assizes: there are two book clubs,
and a small subscription library. About two years since,
a library and philosophical institution, with a good apparatus,
was established here, and is supported by subscription;
lectures are given during the winter at the grammar
school, which is also occasionally used for concerts,
plays, &c. An extensive manufacture of serges was formerly
carried on, but it has for several years been on the
decline. A branch of the Bude canal has recently been
brought within four miles of the town, and promises materially
to improve the general trade; fuel has already
been reduced in price. The markets are on Thursday
for butchers' meat, and on Saturday for corn and provisions
of all sorts; fairs are held on Whit-Monday,
July 5th, November 17th, and December 6th, for cattle;
and on the first Thursday in March, and the third
Thursday in April, for cattle of all sorts, free of toll:
there are likewise three cattle fairs in the parish of St.
Stephen, on May 12th, July 31st, and September 25th.
Launceston was constituted a free borough in the
reign of Henry III., by Richard, Earl of Cornwall,
who granted various privileges to the burgesses, and
a piece of ground on which to build their guildhall,
to be held of him and his heirs by the annual
tender of a pound of pepper; the borough extends as
far as Poulston bridge, on the Tamar, and into the parish
of Lawhitton. The charter of incorporation was
granted by Queen Mary, in 1555; the municipal body
consists of a mayor, eight aldermen, a recorder, and
freemen, in all about seventeen persons. The mayor is
elected by the freemen, from two persons nominated by
the aldermen; the aldermen are chosen by the freemen
from their own body, and the freemen are elected by
the whole corporation; the mayor, the late mayor, the
senior alderman, and the deputy recorder, are justices of
the peace; and two general sessions of the peace are
held within a month after Easter and a month after
Michaelmas, when prisoners accused of petty offences
are tried; more serious offences are reserved for the
assizes. A court of pleas, for the recovery of debts to
an unlimited amount, is held every Monday, before the
mayor, three aldermen, and the recorder. Besides the
parish of St. Mary Magdalene, Launceston, the borough
comprises the extra-parochial district of St. ThomasL
street, and portions of the parishes of Lawhitton and
South Petherwin. Petty sessions for the northern division
of East hundred are held here, on the first Tuesday in
every month. The. assizes for the county, formerly held
wholly in this town, have, for more than half a century,
been held here alternately with Bodmin, on which occasion
only the county gaol at Launceston is now used. The
south gate, repaired about three years since, is used as
the town prison. This borough first returned members
to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I.: the right of
election is in the corporation, and the mayor is the
returning officer; the influence of the Duke of Northumberland
is predominant.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry
of Cornwall, and diocese of Exeter, endowed with
£ 12. 10. per annum private benefaction, and £400 royal
bounty, and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation.
The church, formerly the chapel of St. Mary
Magdalene, was made parochial in the early part of the
sixteenth century: it is in the later style of English
architecture, built with square blocks of granite, and
covered with a profusion of grotesque ornaments; the
tower, which stands at the west end, is constructed of
different materials, and is apparently of much greater
antiquity. There are places of worship for Independents
and Wesleyan Methodists. The grammar school
was founded by Queen Elizabeth, and endowed with
£16 per annum, chargeable on the estates of the duchy
of Cornwall, to which an augmentation of £10 per annum
was made, in 1685, by George Baron, Esq., whose
descendants have the right of nominating ten free scholars;
but the school has been discontinued for some
years. Two charity schools are supported by voluntary
contributions. Here was formerly an hospital for
lepers,  dedicated to St. Leonard; the income, arising
from certain fields which belonged to it, and amounting
to about £25 per annum, is vested in the corporation
for charitable uses. Launceston gives the title of viscount
to the reigning sovereign.