Boscaswell

Boscaswell (Cornish: Boscaswal^[1]) is a village in the extreme west of Cornwall in England, United Kingdom. Higher Boscaswell is a hamlet southeast of Pendeen.^[2]

It lies 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. The Atlantic Ocean is just beyond the cliffs.

Toponymy

Boscaswell traces its name to Bos Castle (but should not be confused with the present-day village of Boscastle, which is further east on the north Cornwall coast). F. J. Horsefield suggested that what is now Boscaswell was once the site of another Danish castle. Again now not thought to be true, again a wrongful supposition and the name has nothing to do with castles. At the lower end of Boscaswell, recent archaeological excavations are said to have suggested that the land has been occupied for more than 10,000 years. There is an ancient pagan well in Boscaswell which is where the name is thought to have its origins, the name suggests that it is the place (Bos) of Cas' (a person or entity or abbreviation thereof) Well (as in the English word).^{[citation needed]}

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'.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Weatherhill, Craig (2009). A Concise Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names. Westport, Éire: Evertype. ISBN 978-1-904808-22-0.
^ Ordnance Survey One-inch Map of Great Britain; Land's End, sheet 189. 1961

External links

Media related to Boscaswell at Wikimedia Commons

50°09′N 5°40′W / 50.150°N 5.667°W / 50.150; -5.667

[Place-Names-1] Weatherhill, Craig (2009). A Concise Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names. Westport, Éire: Evertype. ISBN 978-1-904808-22-0.

[2] Ordnance Survey One-inch Map of Great Britain; Land's End, sheet 189. 1961

[1]

[2]