Description

Alternon or Altarnun, a parish in Cornwall. It lies round the head-streams of the rivers Inny and Lynher, 8 miles WSW of Launceston station on the G.W.R. and L. & S.W.R. It has a post office under Launceston, which is the telegraph office; money order office, North Hill. Acreage, 15,017 ; population of the civil parish, 1078; of the ecclesiastical, 904. Much of the land is very poor or barren. The minerals include granite, hornblende, and stream-tin. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Truro; gross value, £238. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Truro. The church is a fine building, and has the highest tower in Cornwall, except that of Probus and Fowey. It was restored in 1888. St Nunn, the mother of St David of Wales, is said to have been buried here. There are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists and Bible Christians. Cattle fairs are held on the first Monday in July and the last Thursday in October.