Whitchurch, Herefordshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Launceston. You may be able to find further references to Launceston in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Launceston municipal borough, market town, and parish Bartholomew
LAUNCESTON a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district Imperial
LAUNCESTON and SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY a railway Imperial
Launceston (or North-Eastern) Division, The parlimentary division Bartholomew

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Launceston within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 1: North Cornwall and Devon 4
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Lands End to Winchester 4
William Camden Cornwall and Devon 3
Daniel Defoe Letter 3, Part 3: From Exeter to Land's End 2
John Wesley 1743: Wesley Refused Sacraments at Epworth; Cornwall and the Scilly Isles 2
William Cobbett Jan. 2nd, 1822: Sussex Journal 1
John Wesley 1765-8: Justice for Methodists; Methodist Character; Instructions to Parents 1
John Wesley 1769-70: Opens a New Church; Comments on Rousseau; Geology; Swedenborg 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
St Thomas the Apostle 0 2
St Thomas Street 0 2
Newport 1 2
Lawhitton 0 2
St Stephens By Launceston 0 2
South Petherwin 0 3
Werrington 0 2
Lezant 0 2
Lifton 1 3
Bradstone 0 2
Dunterton 0 2
Lewannick 0 2
St Giles on the Heath 0 2
Kelly 0 2
Trewen 0 2
Egloskerry 0 2
Northcott 0 2
Stowford 0 2
Boyton 0 2
North Petherwin 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Launceston. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
DUNHEVED John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
DUNNEHEVED John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
LANCESTON Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
LANSTON Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
LANSTONE Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
LANSTUPHADON William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
LAUNCESTON John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
LAUNCESTON AND SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
LAUNCESTON OR NORTH EASTERN DIVISION THE John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
LAUNSTON William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
LAUNTSAVETON William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.