Altarnun, Cornwall

Historical Description

Alternon or Altarnun, a parish in Cornwall. It lies round the head-streams of the rivers Inny and Lynher, 8 miles WSW of Launceston station on the G.W.R. and L. & S.W.R. It has a post office under Launceston, which is the telegraph office; money order office, North Hill. Acreage, 15,017; population of the civil parish, 1078; of the ecclesiastical, 904. Much of the land is very poor or barren. The minerals include granite, hornblende, and stream-tin. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Truro; gross value, £238. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Truro. The church is a fine building, and has the highest tower in Cornwall, except that of Probus and Fowey. It was restored in 1888. St Nunn, the mother of St David of Wales, is said to have been buried here. There are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists and Bible Christians. Cattle fairs are held on the first Monday in July and the last Thursday in October.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Altarnun from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Alternon (St. Nunn))

Maps

Online maps of Altarnun are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Cornwall papers online:

• Royal Cornwall Gazette
• Cornishman
• West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser
• Lake's Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser

Visitations Heraldic

We have a copy of The Visitations of Cornwall, by Lieut.-Col. J.L. Vivian online.