Bodmin
Bodmin maps (2 available)
Bodmin books (5 available)
- 6 photos on Bodmin appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Bodmin
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Bodmin and Cornwall
Bodmin memories
Fore Street in 1931
This picture shows the street as I remember it aged four. The building on the right was the office of my father's legal practice (Pomery and Gill) and opposite was the market. As a child I loved the Saturday market, when the boiled sweets of all descriptions were on sale. I also loved the stone cows' heads across the facade. My family lived at "Bosvenna" in Priory Road until the late sixties. My father Ernest Gill was Town Clerk for 26 years, and was made Mayor on his retirement from that position. Since moving to Australia in 1963 I have been closely involved in the South Australian Cornish Association, being a past President.
Contributed by David Gill
Staff at the Asylum
I found when researching the 1901 census that members of my husband's family worked at the Asylum. My husband's grandfather, Alfred Charles (Charlie) Southern worked there until his death in 1944. Charles' sister Glen Dora also worked there as did his mother Anne and other relatives. Some were described as laundresses. I wondered whether they actually worked in a laundry at the asylum or whether they did laundry for the asylum at home.
Contributed by First name Last name
HALLOWEEN 2007
Ok, on Halloween night 2007 some friends and myself wanted to do something different for our Halloween night, so where better to do it than at the old Bodmin prison.
So off we set at 9 o'clock taking track to the prison. It was a great evening. We spent some hours in the darkest depths of the prison and we are convinced we did see a ghost of a man in the Naval Wing, and we did some filming and we got some pictures of what looked like 'orbs', it was a very interesting evening.
We would like to point out that this is not the place to visit if you are shocked easily, as the prison has an ...read more here
Contributed by trisha may
Cornwall memories
HALLOWEEN 2007
Ok, on Halloween night 2007 some friends and myself wanted to do something different for our Halloween night, so where better to do it than at the old Bodmin prison.
So off we set at 9 o'clock taking track to the prison. It was a great evening. We spent some hours in the darkest depths of the prison and we are convinced we did see a ghost of a man in the Naval Wing, and we did some filming and we got some pictures of what looked like 'orbs', it was a very interesting evening.
We would like to point out that this is not the place to visit if you are shocked easily, as the prison has an ...read more here
A memory of Bodmin contributed by trisha may
Extracts From Bodmin & Cornwall books
This was the chantry chapel of St Thomas Becket, licensed 18 March 1377 in the reign of Edward III. It was in use
as a grammar school from about 1566 to 1853, and since became ruinous. The arch below the porch on the left
leads to a vaulted crypt. The ruin stands just to the east of Bodmin church; it is still in a poor state and the window
has lost its tracery.
An extract from from"Churches of East Cornwall Photographic Memories".
The church stands at the entry
to Bodmin and was passed by
everyone travelling through the
county before the town was by-
passed by the A30. The old road
is quiet in this view; the volume of
traffic seems unlikely to challenge
the skills of the officer on point
duty! The tower is almost hiding
behind the body of the church.
The embattled south porch has two
upper floors for priest’s chambers. A
little stone roofed house close to the
west door is St Guron’s Well.
An extract from from"Churches of East Cornwall Photographic Memories".
A similar view to the one above, but this follows work carried out to the chancel by Sir Charles Nicholson in
1932. Note also the new screen on the right for the Lady Chapel. Military flags hang on the wall of the north aisle
(left), for the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry has close associations with the town and church. The south aisle
now displays the 12th-century reliquary casket of St Petroc, although it is empty. Two other notable fittings in the
church are the carved Norman font and the Catacleuse stone tomb of Thomas Vyvian, the penultimate prior of
Bodmin who died in 1533.
An extract from from"Churches of East Cornwall Photographic Memories".
This scene has hardly changed for many years; the
beach at Polridmouth is still only accessible on foot.
Although we are just around the corner from St Austell
Bay, this photograph gives us a good view of the
prominent day mark erected in 1832 on the Gribbin
Head as an aid for shipping entering the bay.
An extract from from"St Austell Bay Photographic Memories".
The old pilchard-curing
cellar, or ‘palace’, beside the
shore in the foreground was
one of the largest in
Cornwall. However, by the
time of this early
photograph the harbour
seems already deserted by
the fishing fleet, perhaps in
favour of Mevagissey on the
far side of the bay.
An extract from from"St Austell Bay Photographic Memories".





