| | Most Cornish place names are made up from two, three or four parts. The first part of the name is a noun, and the following one, two or more are adjectives. It follows therefore that the majority of the names begin in the following manner:- | Part Name | Meaning | | | | | Bos | Small house - hut or cottage | | Chy - Ty | House or dwelling | | Pen | Head - hill | | Pons | Bridge | | Pol | Pool | | Tre | Homestead - settlement or farm | | Hal | Cliff | | Lan | Holy place - sacred enclosed or monastery | | Nans | Valley | | Caer | Enclosed - fort | | | |
Many of these names date back hundreds of years, possibly to the days when people found their way about the countryside, unable to read and write, and unaided by maps and signposts. So house names had to pinpoint places for the land surrounding the property and area. Trebarveth is the settlement on top of a grave. Pengarrick - the head of a rock. A new house, in Cornish, we would address it Chy-noweth - House-new. Sometimes we have to be guided by the locality of the dwelling, as in the names Chynalls or Chynale, - Chy (house) on the moor (hal), estuary (hayle). | Name | Meaning | | Angove | The Smith -perhaps from our own Myghal Josef | | Bosahan | John's Cottage | | Chy An Mor | House by the sea | | Coverack | A hidden place | Crousa (Crows An Wra) | Witches Cross | | Carn Dhu | Black Rock | | Carkeek | A lookout | | Chyventon | House by a spring | | Chywoon | House on a moor | | Kestle Merris | Mary's Castle | | Kilter (Kelly Dowr) | Grove by the water | Gwenter (Gwyn Dowr) | White water | | Kelly | Grove | | Lannarth | A clearing in a wood | | Lesneage | Mossey Court | | Lestowder | Court of Theodore | | Morva | Place by the sea | | MERES (Mor Ros) | Heath by the sea | | Mill Mehal | Michael's Mill | | Namboll | Valley with pool | | Ponsongath | Cat's bridge | | Pengilly | Head of the Grove | | Penventon | Head of the spring | | Polventon | Pool with a spring | | Penmennor | Top of the great stone | | Polkinghorne | Pool in the corner | Penticost (Pen Ty Cost) | End of the house by the wood | | Porthallow | Cove at the end of the moors | | Porthkerris | Cove of the cherry trees | | Rosenithon | Heath with the furze | | Retallack | High heath | | Roskilly | Heath with grove | | Roscrowgy | Small cottage on the heath | | Roskruge | Heath with a barrow | | Treloar | Settlement of the moon | | Treskewes | Settlement by the elder bushes | | Trevalso | Settlement on a cliff | | Trevallack | Walled settlement | | Tregowris | Settlement of the giantess | | Treath | Sandy shore - beach | | Trelease | Grey settlement | | Trembraze | Meadow settlement | | Tregenza | Most important settlement |
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