Editing Bolventor

{{Short description|Hamlet in Cornwall, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
 | static_image_name        = Jamaica Inn2.jpg
 | static_image_caption     = [[Jamaica Inn]] from the old [[A30 road|A30]]
 | country                  = England
 | map_type                 = Cornwall
 | coordinates              = {{coord|50|33|44|N|4|33|56|W|display=inline,title}}
 | official_name            = Bolventor
 | cornish_name             = Bedhasbold
 | population               = 
 | civil_parish             = [[Altarnun]]
 | shire_county             = [[Cornwall]]
 | region                   = South West England
 | constituency_westminster = [[North Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)|North Cornwall]]
 | post_town                = LAUNCESTON
 | postcode_district        = PL15
 | postcode_area            = PL
 | dial_code                = 01566
 | os_grid_reference        = SX184767
}}

'''Bolventor''' ({{langx|kw|Bedhasbold}}) is a [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] on [[Bodmin Moor]] in [[Cornwall]], England, United Kingdom. It is situated in [[Altarnun]] [[civil parish]] between [[Launceston, Cornwall|Launceston]] and [[Bodmin]].<ref>Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 ''Plymouth & Launceston'' {{ISBN|978-0-319-23146-3}}</ref>

==Toponymy==
The hamlet has been said to take its name from the "Bold Venture" that it must have appeared to build a farm in this moorland, but this is probably [[folk etymology]], as "Bol-" is a common prefix in Cornish placenames. It is much more likely that the name derives from the 'Bold Adventure' tin-working area which was in operation near Jamaica Inn during the 1840s-1850s<ref>R. D. Penhallurick ''Tin in Antiquity'' (2008) Maney; p. 207.</ref>

==Jamaica Inn==
Bolventor is the location of the famous [[Jamaica Inn]] [[coaching inn]]. It is bypassed by a [[dual carriageway]] section of the [[A30 road|A30]] trunk road; before the bypass was built the hamlet straddled the A30 road.

[[Daphne du Maurier]], a former resident, chose Bolventor as the setting for her novel about Cornish [[smuggling|smugglers]] titled ''[[Jamaica Inn (novel)|Jamaica Inn]]''. The inn that inspired the novel, Jamaica Inn, has stood beside the main road through the village since 1547. It is now a tourist attraction in its own right and dominates the hamlet. The Jamaica Inn was the subject of a paranormal investigation during a 2004 episode of reality television programme ''[[Most Haunted]]''.

==Church==
[[File:Holy Trinity Church, Bolventor - geograph.org.uk - 794080.jpg|thumb|Holy Trinity Church, Bolventor]]
The former [[Holy Trinity Church, Bolventor|Holy Trinity Church]] that lies to the east of the hamlet closed some years ago. A mile from Bolventor there was a chapel of St Luke (from the 13th to the early 16th century): the font is now at the church of [[Tideford]].<ref>''Cornish Church Guide'' (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 62.</ref> Bolventor parish was established in 1846 (before that date the village was in St Neot parish; the new parish was made up of parts of St Neot, Altarnun and Cardinham parishes<ref>Beacham, Peter & Pevsner, Nikolaus (2014). ''Cornwall''. New Haven: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-12668-6}}; p. 117.</ref>) but has now been merged with [[Altarnun]].

==1945 air disaster==
On 14 September 1945 a [[Royal Air Force]] [[Handley Page Halifax|Handley Page Halifax Mk VII]] (PN305) was operating a flight from [[RAF Tarrant Rushton]], [[Dorset]], to [[Lajes Field]], [[Azores]], Portugal. During the flight an electrical failure occurred causing a dingy inside the wing to inflate dislodge from stowage. The dingy wrapped around the tail assembly and the aircraft went into a nose dive, crashing into the Priddacombe area of Bolventor. All 21 on board, seven crew and fourteen passengers, died in the crash.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://rafdavidstowmoor.org/crash-log/view-1945-crash-log/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315052114/http://rafdavidstowmoor.org/crash-log/view-1945-crash-log/ |archive-date=15 March 2016 |title=RAF Davidstow Moor :: View 1945 Crash Log }}</ref><ref>https://aircrewremembered.com/fraser-alfred.html</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=14865 |title=Aircraftman 1st Class P FITZGIBBON (1599165), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve) &#91;Royal Air Force WW2 Casualty &#93; }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-handley-page-hp63-halifax-vii-bolventor-21-killed |title=Crash of a Handley Page H.P.63 Halifax VII in Bolventor: 21 killed &#124; Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Hamlets in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Bodmin Moor]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents locations in England]]
[[Category:1945 disasters in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:September 1945 in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Altarnun]]