Translation of place name

[Brentor boy]

I have an ancestor who, in 1679, took out a lease on a property known as "Gweal-an-carn" which is/was in the Mithian area, St Agnes. I would be interested to know what the name meant. Probably too much to hope that it is possible to identify its location. I suspect it was close to Mithian Mill.

[PrueM]

Hi brentor boy

I'm sure you'll have some Cornish speakers along to give you a proper translation, but from what I can make out from Cornish word lists online and a smattering of Welsh words I know, I believe "Gweal" might mean "field", and "carn" might be "pile of stones".  So "field with a pile of stones" could be one translation of "Gweal-an-carn".

Just a guess, though 

Cheers
Prue

[Brentor boy]

Hi Prue,

Thanks for that, which is similar to my own thoughts. I suspected the name referred to an area of land identified by a rocky feature and posted in the hope that someone might confirm that conclusion or suggest an alternative explanation.

[osprey]

not sure there is an alternative. From ' Cornish Place Names Explained', gweal means a cultivated field and carn a rockpile. Have you contacted the archives in Truro to see if they can help? Do you have a copy of the lease? You could get one from the archives. It may help to identify the place as the online catalogue only shows the title of the lease. I've had a look at 1:25000 map of the area but there's more than one tumulus showing & the area will have changed. No sign of a mill or millpond. The archives do have old maps.


http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=1729

 

[Brentor boy]

Osprey,

Thanks for your helpful reply. I now know that Gweal-an-carn was "seven acres of land bounded by old hedge towards the millpool together with tenement, in Mithian"

I guess my next move is to find trace of the mill/millpool.

[Brentor boy]

I have now discovered Mill Pool Farm, Mithian which is just south of the village. In an adjacent field is a small, round, copse of trees, an island in otherwise ploughed ground. Could this be the site of the cairn? I think that is as close as I will get and is near enough for me.

[osprey]

can't see a cairn marked on the map, but it could have been removed in the last 300 years! Also, there's a railway tunnel nearby, so evidently an amount of earth moving will have happened.

 

[Brentor boy]

I agree. It is quite probable that the cairn no longer exists/is identifiable. Possibly "ploughed out" if in an inconvenient place, or "quarried" for building material. Nevertheless Mill Pool Farm seems to me to be a reasonably convincing location indicator and is sufficient for my purposes.

Thanks for your interest and assistance.

[pinot]

An online dictionary gives 'gweles' for English 'see'.' See' in Welsh is gwel(e)d, which gives rise to house-names such as 'Gwelfor' - Sea View. There are good reasons for thinking that the translation you need may be 'Cairn View'.
                     Pinot