Launcells () 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 ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in north-east

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 located east of

Bude Bude (, locally or ; Cornish language, Cornish ) is a seaside town in north Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as ...

. Within the civil parish are the hamlets of Launcells Cross, Red Post,

Grimscott Grimscott is a village in north Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated in the civil parish of Launcells, east of the town of Bude. Half a mile east of the village is ''Grimscott SSSI'' (Site of Special Scientific Interest), noted for its biol ...

, and Buttsbear Cross. In 2001, 563 people lived within the civil parish, decreasing to 531 at the 2011 census.

Geography

The

River Tamar The Tamar (; ) is a river in south west England that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A large part of the valley of the Tamar is protected as the Tamar Valley National Landscape (an Area of Outsta ...

forms the eastern boundary of the civil parish, as well as the Cornish boundary with

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

Parish church

The parish church is dedicated to St Swithin: nearby, in the wooded valley is the holy well of St Swithin. There are two aisles but the arcades differ: while the north is of granite the south is of older Polyphant stone. The fine series of over 60 benchends is from the same workshop as those of Kilkhampton and

Poughill Poughill (pronounced "Pofil" or "Puffil") is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bude-Stratton, in the Cornwall district, in north-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is located one mile north of Bude. In 1931 the par ...

. Other features of interest are the medieval wall painting and the tomb of Sir John Chamond, 1624. The church also features an unusual post-Reformation wall painting which has been dated between 1680-1690. The Ringers of Launcells Tower - Frederick Smallfield

The Ringers of Launcells Tower - Frederick Smallfield

Charles Henderson writing in 1925 gives the dedication as to

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

. The origin of the name Launcells is probably from ''Lan-'' and a personal name ''Kellys''. In the early Middle Ages the church belonged to Hartland Abbey and there are records of a dispute over the building of the chancel in 1382 which required episcopal intervention. Unusually for a Cornish church it has not been affected by Victorian or later restorations.''Cornish Church Guide'' (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 136-37

References

External links

{{North Cornwall CP navigation box Civil parishes in Cornwall Hamlets in Cornwall