Lanivet

Lanivet is a village in central Cornwall, located roughly 2.5 miles southwest of Bodmin. The name derives from the Cornish lann, meaning a sacred enclosure, and the saint Neved, suggesting an ancient religious site. The village has a traditional character, with the 15th-century church of St Nivet as its focal point. A wheel-headed cross in the churchyard is traditionally said to mark the exact geographical centre of Cornwall. The area is agricultural, with a landscape of farmland and scattered hamlets, and the village retains a sense of being at the heart of the county. History: Lanivet has been a religious site for over 1,000 years, with the current church dating from the early 15th century but replacing an earlier structure dedicated in 1318. The high altar was rededicated in 1338. The name is recorded as Lann in 1268, suggesting an even earlier church on the site. The church contains a fine set of bells and wagon roof timbers, and in the churchyard stands an ancient wheel-headed cross. At one time, Lanivet had eleven copper mines, though all are now closed. The parish was on the old Saints' Way, along which early Christian saints travelled from Ireland via Padstow. St Benet's, a 15th-century chapel and former lazar house, is located in the parish and was founded in 1411. The area was also associated with a monastery subordinate to Monte Cassino or Clairvaux, though the details are uncertain. In the 20th century, the A30 road passed through Lanivet, but a bypass was built in 1977, making the village quieter. Today, Lanivet remains a rural community with a strong sense of its long history.