CORNWALL to suit the name. In reality the name is probably Lis-z:inthii'l, the " palace in the wood," but there are other possible derivations. The lis is clear enough ; the " vvithiel " might either be uhella, highest or chief; hucl or u-heal, a mine ; or givel, a field. Whitaker even speaks of an early Earl of Cornwall named Withiel, but his authority is rather doubtful. The parish itself is very tiny, but the place was of early importance. It was granted to the Earl of Cornwall by Henry III., and the earl made it a borough and sole coinage-town in Corn- wall. Traces of the old stannary court may yet be seen at the Duchy House. At that period Lostwithiel was certainly the capital of the duchy ; but it did not long retain the dis- tinction, and its coinage privileges were shared by Launceston, Truro, Helston and Penzance. It can no longer be considered an important town, but it is a very attractive one, nestling amidst the most delightful inland scener)' of Cornwall. The fine church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, has a lantern spire of a kind un- exampled elsewhere in the W. of England a spire which Mr. Street has described as "the glory of Cornwall," and "a perfect example of the Dec. period ". But for the n^Jsusage it suffered from the Roundheads, the £^urch would have remained a rare specimen of Dec; happily the tower, the beautiful E. window, and the font escaped. This font was specially desecrated by the Parliamentarians. In the words of an indignant Royalist, " in contempt i68 «4
