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Launceston ( or ), locally or , ((コーンウォール語:Lannstevan); rarely spelled Lanson) is a town, ancient borough, and civil parish in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Dunheved was the Southwestern Brittonic name for the town in the West Saxon period. Launceston is centred one mile (1.6 km) west of the River Tamar, which constitutes almost the entire border between the Cornish peninsular and Devon, at its middle stage. Its gradients are generally steep particularly at a sharp south-western knoll topped by Launceston Castle.〔Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 ''Plymouth & Launceston'' ISBN 978-0-319-23146-3〕 The town centre is bypassed so no longer physically a main thoroughfare yet remaining figuratively the "gateway to Cornwall", having one of two dual carriageways into the county since the completion of the alternative main point of entry at Saltash over the Tamar Bridge in 1962. Launceston Steam Railway narrow-gauge heritage railway runs for aesthetic and industrial heritage purposes along a short rural route. Two civil parishes serve the town and its outskirts, of which the central more built-up administrative unit housed 8,952 residents at the 2011 census.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 work = GENUKI: UK & Ireland Genealogy )〕 Three electoral wards include reference to the town, their total population, from 2011 census data, being 11,837 and two ecclesiastical parishes serve the former single parish, with three churches and a large swathe of land to the north and west part of the area. Launceston's motto is a reference to its adherence to the Cavalier cause during the English Civil War of the mid-17th century. ==Geography== Launceston is a market town, castle, recreational and heritage railway visitor town and the main shopping centre for the adjoining rural areas of west Devon and east Cornwall. The town is mainly built on the south side of a large hill almost immune to flooding, unlike its northern neighbourhood, Newport in part on a slightly wider plain at the bottom of the hill, which is susceptible to flooding by the River Kensey. The suburb of Newport is recorded for the first time during the 13th century. The natural advantages of the Launceston district had been recognised by the Anglo-Saxon monks of St Stephen and by the Norman lord of Cornwall in the reign of King William I. At this point in the course of the River Tamar it is joined by four tributaries within a short distance and its flood plain is relatively large, while further south the Tamar valley is narrow and meandering.〔Balchin, W. G. V. (1967) ''Cornwall: a description of the Ordnance Survey seventh edition one-inch sheets covering Cornwall''. (British Landscapes through Maps.) Sheffield: Geographical Association; p. 25〕 Launceston is connected to the A30 trunk route, a dual carriageway bypass carrying its road traffic south of the town. The bypass crosses the River Tamar on the Dunheved Bridge built in 1975-6 mdash; substantially rebuilt 2006-7.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Highways Agency press release: Dunheved Bridge )〕 Through this the town is approximately 42 miles (67 km) west of Exeter, 26 miles (42 km) north-east of Plymouth and 21 miles (34 km) east of the smaller regional centre of Bodmin. It is roughly midway between the north coast of Cornwall (at Bude) and the south coast (at Saltash). Launceston civil parish comprises the town whereas St Stephens by Launceston Rural civil parish covers all outskirts, save for those south of the town. These each convene to discuss events funding, recreational funding and general planning matters.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Launceston Ward population census 2011 )〕 Stourscombe SSSI, a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, one mile to the east of Launceston, is designated ″... for the best inland exposure of the Upper Devonian in South West England and the type locality of the Stourscombe Beds (Upper Famennian).″〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000531.pdf )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Launceston, Cornwall」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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