Helstone () is a

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

in north

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, United Kingdom. It is situated two miles (3 km) southwest of

Camelford Camelford () is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately north of Bodmin and is governed by Camelford Town Council. The ward pop ...

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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

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 The Antiqua maneria (ancient manors), also known as assessionable manors, were the original 17 manors belonging to the Earldom of Cornwall. After March 1337, these manors were transferred to the new Duchy of Cornwall created by King Edward III ...

of the

Duchy of Cornwall A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

. The name Helstone is related to that of the Iron Age fort Hellesbury: it is from the Cornish ''hen'' + ''lys'' (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