Boscaswell
| Boscaswell | |
| Cornwall | |
|---|---|
 Engine houses at East Boscaswell Mine | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SW380345 |
| Location: | 50°9’12"N, 5°40’4"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | TR19 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Cornwall |
Boscaswell is a village in the extreme west of Cornwall. It is divided into two separated hamlets: Lower Boscawell, running down to the Geevor Tin Mine, close to the shore, and Higher Boscaswell on the B3306, a hamlet southeast of Pendeen.
The village stands towards the cliffs looking west from Pendeen. It is a village consisting mostly of granite terraced cottages with a council house estate. Some of the cottages used to house tin mining families who would be working down the Geevor Tin Mine. Beyond the cliffs lies nothing but the rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
At the lower end of Boscaswell, archaeological excavations have found ancient traces suggesting this place has been occupied for more than 10,000 years.
Name
The local legend is that Boscaswell takes its name from a 'Bos Castle' (not be confused with the present-day village of Boscastle, on the north Cornwall coast). F J Horsefield suggested that what is now Boscaswell was once the site of a Danish castle, but this is now held to be no more than a romantic idea, and that the name has nothing to do with castles.
There is an ancient well in Boscaswell and another suggestion has it that this village is the place (Bos) of Cas (an unknown person or entity or an abbreviation of a name), with the English "Well".
The most likely explanation for the name is given by Craig Weatherhill in 'A Concise Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names', where he gives 'Boscaswal' as a 1310 version of the name, and points out that 'bos' in Cornish means dwelling, esp. in place names, thus giving 'Cadwal's dwelling'.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Boscaswell) |
