The town of Bodmin (10mi/16km southeast of St Endellion; pop. 12,000) replaced Launceston as county town of Cornwall in 1835. Its origins go back to a monastery founded by the missionary St Petroc who, arriving in the area around 530, remained until his death in 564. The present parish church (1469-72), dedicated to the saint, is the largest in
the county. It possesses one of the most beautiful Norman fonts (12th century) in Cornwall, supported by four cherubim and decorated with the tree of life and allegories of Good (east side) and Evil (west side). There are also two German panel paintings (ca. 1500), a magnificent marble monument to Prior Thomas Vivian (1533), and numerous slate tomb slabs, including that of Richard Durant, his two wives and 20 children (1632).
Bodmin has several points of interest including the Bodmin Gaol, the Shire Hall, the Regimental museum and the Bodmin Beacon Local Nature Reserve.
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