Bolenowe ( kw, Boslenow, meaning ''dwelling of strip-fields'') is a village in west
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, England, United Kingdom. It is approximately one-and-a-half miles (2 km) southeast of
Camborne
Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove.
Camborne was formerl ...
(where the 2011 Census population is included). It consists of cottages that are spread apart by large gardens, the only amenities are a
post box
A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English) is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intend ...
and a red
phone box
A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; usually the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...
that has now been decommissioned.
History
The first record of the name was Boslaynou in 1321. A Hamelinus Bolyneu was named as one of three taxatores for the parish of Camborne in a Lay Subsidy roll of 1327. During the 16th century the occupiers of Bolenowe were titled ''tirek'', which in the Cornish language means ''landed'' or ''rich in land''. The Bolenowe estate may have extended to 100
Cornish acres. Bolenowe was known for producing
bees wax
Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers ...
at this time.
In the 19th and 20th centuries Bolenowe had two shops, an unlicensed pub, called a ''kidleywink'', and two chapels.
Historian
Charles Thomas has identified an area called No Man's Land near Bolenowe as an area of land left unused, perhaps since Neolithic times, as an act of sacrifice to a spirit called a
Bucca and notes that there was a belief that the Bucca still haunted the moors on Bolenowe Carn into the 19th century when John Harris was growing up there.
Areas
As well as the main settlement of Bolenowe there are several other surrounding farms and notable features which use the name Bolenowe.
*Bolenowe Wartha (Higher Bolenowe), also known as Six Chimneys,
[Ordnance Survey] is where John Harris was born and grew up.
*Bolenowe Wollas (Lower Bolenowe) is where the current village of Bolenowe is situated.
*Bolenowe Carn is the rocky hill situated behind Bolenowe.
*Bolenowe Moor is a marshy area at the bottom of the valley and is the source for the
Red River.
*Bolenowe Crofts
Mines and quarries
There are several former stone quarries at Bolenowe including an
elvan
Elvan is a name used in Cornwall and Devon for the native varieties of quartz-porphyry. They are dispersed irregularly in the Devonian series of rocks and some of them make very fine building stones (e.g. Pentewan stone, Polyphant stone and Cata ...
quarry. Bolenowe was the site of Bolenowe Carn Mine, also to the North Bolenowe Mine (South Wheal Grenville).
West Tresavean Mine was further to the west and South of the nearby village of Troon. Both mines were on a sett plan held at Pendarves House until recently.
Notable residents
It is famous as the birthplace of the poet
John Harris winner of the Shakespeare Tercentenary Prize in 1864.
References
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Villages in Cornwall