Helstone ( kw, Hellys) is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in north

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 situated two miles (3 km) southwest of Camelford on the A39 road.

History

Helstone (or Helston in Trigg) was in the Middle Ages one of the chief manors of the Hundred of Trigg and perhaps in Celtic times the seat of a chieftain. In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

this manor was held by Earl Robert of Mortain: there were 2 hides, land for 15 ploughs; the lord had 4 ploughs & 18 serfs; 20 villagers & 18 smallholders had 8 ploughs; of woodland; 6 square leagues of pasture; five kinds of livestock, in total 195 beasts. The manor of Penmayne was a dependency of this manor. It was one of the 17 Antiqua maneria of the

Duchy of Cornwall The Duchy of Cornwall ( kw, Duketh Kernow) is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of 'Duke of Cornwall' at ...

. The name Helstone is related to that of the Iron Age fort Hellesbury: it is from the Cornish ''hen'' + ''lis'' (old court) with the later addition of Anglo-Saxon ''tun''. In medieval times there were deer parks which contained fallow deer for hunting and eating. Two of these were at Helston in Trigg (Lanteglos), one of them was among the oldest deer parks in Cornwall and the other a new park. The then existing ducal parks were disparked by King Henry VIII about the year 1540 so that they became pasture for cattle. Henderson, Charles (1935) ''Essays in Cornish History''; ed. by A. L. Rowse and M. I. Henderson. London: Oxford University Press; Cornish deer parks; pp. 159-162

References

{{Cornwall, state=collapsed Hamlets in Cornwall Manors in Cornwall