The town of Truro achieved corporate existence in the 1150s when Richard Lucy, afterwards Henry II’s chief justiciar, separated it from his manor of Kenwyn at the head of a main tidal creek of the Fal estuary. Lucy conferred on the inhabitants certain liberties (including the right to have a court of their own, to levy tolls and rents and to manage their own commercial affairs), and obtained confirmation of his charters from Reynold, earl of Cornwall, as well as from the King.
Lostwithiel was founded some time in the 12th century at the lowest bridging point across the river Fowey, by a member of the powerful family of Cardinan, owners of the manor of Bodardle, which then included the greater part of the parish of Lanlivery. The borough was established before 1194, when Robert Cardinan paid the King ten marks for the privilege of holding a market there, but his grand daughter was induced to sell not only her castle of Restormel (built in about 1200) and its park, but also this township to Henry III’s brother, Richard, earl of Cornwall.
Liskeard, unlike Launceston (Dunheved), Lostwithiel and Truro, was not a ‘new’ town, planted in the early Middle Ages by a local lord. First mentioned in about 1000, it was of similar antiquity to Helston, having grown up gradually near Bodmin moor upon which the tin workings of the stannary district of Foweymore were later located. The courts of the stannary were often held at Liskeard, but the town never became a centre of the tin trade on the same scale as Lostwithiel or Truro.
By the later Middle Ages three separate townships had grown up at Launceston: Launceston ‘St. Stephen’, Dunheved and Newport. Each of the three at various times adopted the name of ‘Launceston’, and confusion between them increased after 1529 when both Newport and Dunheved returned Members to Parliament, for Newport made returns as ‘Launceston’ and Dunheved (which until then had generally done the same) took to using its ancient name. However, in the 14th and early 15th centuries Newport was of minor importance, and the histories of the other two townships may be easily disentangled.
The town of Helston was the focal point of the manor of Helston-in-Kerrier, the most westerly of the assessionable manors of the duchy of Cornwall, and also the biggest. Before the Black Death approximately 5,000 areas were leased to the tenants of the manor, with perhaps an additional 2,500 acres held in free tenancies. But the manor contained large tracks of barren land suitable for use only as rough pasture, which would only be leased in response to an exceptional demand for foodstuffs and land, such as that created by extensive mining activity.
The town of Bodmin owed its existence to the priory built in the tenth century on the site where St. Petrock was buried. At the time of the Domesday survey, when the priory possessed 68 houses and a market there, Bodmin was the largest settlement in Cornwall. But although it retained its pre-eminence over the other Cornish towns with regard to size, its position under the lordship of the priory made it an unsuitable place for use as a centre for royal administration. Even so, there was clearly some anxiety in Launceston that Bodmin might usurp the place of county town.
Cambridge was from its beginning a strategic centre and military base. Its castle, built later by the Normans on the outskirts of the town, remained a notable fortress and occasional royal residence until the late 13th century; thereafter it was used as a gaol and administrative centre for the shire as a whole, for Cambridge had by then been the county town for over 300 years. By our period Cambridge had long been one of the major market towns of the eastern counties, owing its economic importance largely to its geographical position.
Situated in a well-watered gap in the Chilterns, and in the midst of the most heavily populated part of Buckinghamshire, Chipping Wycombe was one of the two most important towns in the county (the other being Aylesbury). It alone, however, returned burgesses to Parliament at this time. Also known as Great or High Wycombe, it was situated on an ancient road linking the Icknield Way with the Thames and, more significantly, stood on the road from London to Oxford, Woodstock and the Cotswold cloth towns, being conveniently placed half-way between London and Oxford.
Wallingford, at the time of the Domesday survey the largest and richest town in Berkshire, had reached the peak of its prosperity by the end of the 12th century, declining thereafter, if only gradually at first. This regression, gaining momentum during the reign of Edward III, accelerated throughout the period under consideration until, by 1438, the place was practically deserted. By then the number of parishes in the borough had fallen from 12 to four, two of which, moreover, were so depopulated as to be unable to pay any tithes.VCH Berks. iii.
By the last quarter of the 14th century, Reading had become the largest and most important town in Berkshire. Communications by road with London, Winchester, Oxford and the west country cloth towns were good, and Reading’s position at the confluence of the Thames and the Kennet enabled it to take advantage of the facilities for water transport these rivers provided.
