ALTERNON, or Altarnun, a parish and a subdistrict in the district of Launceston, Cornwall. The parish lies round the head-streams of the rivers Inny and Lynher, 8 miles WSW of Launceston, and 12 N of Doublebois r. station. It has a post office under Launceston. Acres, 15,014. Real property, £6,272. Pop., 1,389. Houses, 279. The property is much subdivided. Much of the land is very poor or barren. The minerals include granite, hornblende, and stream-tin. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £320.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. The church is a fine building, and has the highest tower in Cornwall, except that of Probus. St. Nunn, the mother of St. David of Wales, is said to have been buried here; and Jowle, the clerk in the time of Charles II., died at the age of 150. There are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists and Bible Christians. Charities, £6. The subdistrict comprises 4 parishes. Acres, 22,489. Pop., 2,496. Houses, 501.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))