Hide

Bolventor

hide
Hide

The parish of Bolventor (Bolven Tor) (Cornish: Bedhasbold) was created on 24th June 1848 from parts of Altarnun, St Neot and Cardinham parishes. The parish is named after the 'Bold Venture', which was to establish farmland on Bodmin Moor. It a small hamlet really on the main road, giving best views of the moor, including Brown Willy and Rough Tor, the main tors. It is also famous for the pub, Jamaica Inn as immortalised in the book of the same name by Daphne du Maurier. The area is bleak but there is suprisingly quite a lot to visit nearby.

Most parish and church description(s) on these pages are from Lake's Parochial History of the County of Cornwall by J Polsue (Truro, 1867 - 1873)

Hide
topup

Cemeteries

The Cornwall Family History Society have published Monumental Inscriptions for the Parish Church - 398 entries.

topup

Census

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1901) is held in the Cornwall Record Office. The Cornwall Family History Society offers a census search service for its members.
Specific census information for this parish is available as follows:

topup

Church History

  • Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SX184768 and was dedicated to The Holy Trinity; it was consecrated on 3rd July 1848. It was a structure of granite and stone in the Gothic style, comprising a chancel, nave and bell turret containing one bell. The registers date from 1848. The church building went out of use by the close of the 20th century.
  • Non-Conformist. The Bible Christians also had a chapel here.
topup

Church Records

  • LDS Church Records. The LDS Church batch numbers for Bolventor are: P006421, M006421. These are searchable by surname.
  • The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1849 - 1978, Burials 1850 - 1979, Marriages 1849 - 1977.
  • Some church register entries for Bolventor are available on-line.
  • Baptisms. Baptisms 1848 to 1901 are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Marriages. Marriages 1845 to 1901 are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Burials. Burials 1850 to 1936 are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
topup

Civil Registration

The parish of Bolventor is in the Launceston Registration District and has been since it was formed in 1849. There were originally sub-districts at Altarnun, Launceston, North Hill, North Petherwin and St Stephen-by-Launceston, but these are now all closed.

The Superintendant Registrar can be contacted at: Hendra, Dunheved Road, Launceston, PL15 9JG. Tel: 01566 772464.

topup

Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Bolventor which are provided by:

topup

Gazetteers

topup

Genealogy

  • OPC Assistance. The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a service to help family historians; the OPC page for this parish is available on-line, from where the OPC can be contacted by email.
topup

Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SX184768 (Lat/Lon: 50.56225, -4.565593), Bolventor which are provided by:

topup

Poor Houses, Poor Law

Altarnum parish was part of the Launceston Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

topup

Population

The parish of Bolventor was created in 1849 from parts of Altarnun, St Neot and Cardinham parishes.

Most parish and church description(s) on these pages are from Lake's Parochial History of the County of Cornwall by J Polsue (Truro, 1867 - 1873)

  • Population in 1851 - 166 persons
  • Population in 1861 - 344 persons
  • Population in 1871 - 332 persons
  • Population in 1881 - 293 persons
  • Population in 1891 - 304 persons
  • Population in 1901 - 302 persons
  • Population in 1911 - 327 persons
  • Population in 1921 - 270 persons
  • Population in 1931 - 259 persons
  • Population in 1951 - 264 persons
  • Population in 1961 - 0 persons
  • Population in 1971 - 0 persons
  • Population in 1981 - 95 persons
  • Population in 1991 - 90 persons
  • Population in 2001 - 000 persons
topup

Statistics

The parish comprises 6360 acres of land.