Lostwithiel (Cornwall, UK) is called Lostwydhyel in Cornish, “tail of a wooded area”, is at the head of the River Fowey estuary.
Its name is a subject of much debate: The origin of the name Lostwithiel is a subject much debated. In the 16th century it was thought that the name came from the Roman name Uzella, or Les Uchel in Cornish. In the 17th century popular opinion was that the name came from a translation of Lost (a tail) and Withiel (a lion), the lion in question being the lord who lived in the castle. More current thinking is that the name comes from the Old Cornish Lost Gwydhyel meaning "tail-end of the woodland". The seal of the borough was a shield charged with a castle rising from water between two thistles, in the water two fish, with the legend "Sigillum burgi de Lostwithyel et Penknight in Cornubia". Its mayoral regalia includes a silver oar, signifying its former jurisdiction over the River Fowey. Lostwithiel's most notable buildings are St Bartholomew's Church and Restormel Castle and there is a small museum devoted to the history of the town. Once a stannary town, and for a period the most important in Cornwall, it is now much reduced in importance. There is a fine early fourteenth-century bridge with six pointed arches, and nearby the remains of the Lostwithiel Stannary Palace, with its Coinage Hall was the centre of royal authority over tin-mining, and 'coinage' meant the knocking off of the corner of each block of tin for the benefit of the Duchy of Cornwall. The small Guildhall has an arcaded ground floor. The old Grammar School has been converted into dwellings, as has been the workshops and warehouses along the river.
Size: 4608px × 3456px
Location: Lostwithiel, Cornwall, UK
Photo credit: © Philip Chapman / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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Keywords: apartments, arches, bartholomew, borough, bridge, church, cornwall, england, estuary, fourteenth-century, fowey, guildhall, historic, lostwithiel, lostwydhyel, medieval, pointed, river, small, st, stannary, tidal, town, workshops
