Lostwithiel (Cornish: Lostwydhyel) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739.

Geography

The town lies on the A390 road from Tavistock to Truro.
Lostwithiel railway station is on the Cornish Main Line from Plymouth to Penzance. It is situated on the south side of the town, just across the medieval bridge. The railway's workshops were built here, but the remaining buildings were transformed into apartments in 2004. A branch line takes china clay trains to Fowey.

Buildings

Lostwithiel's most notable buildings are St Bartholomew's Church and Restormel Castle. There is a small museum devoted to the history of the town. Once a stannary town, and for a period the most important in the country, it is now much decayed. There is a fine early fourteenth century bridge with five pointed arches, and nearby the remains of the Stannery Court, with its Coinage Hall - this was the centre of royal authority over tin-mining, and 'coinage' meant the knocking off of the corner of each block of tin for the benefit of the Duchy of Cornwall. The small Guildhall has an arcaded ground floor. The old Grammar School has been converted into dwellings.

Origin of the name

The origin of the name Lostwithiel is a subject to much debated. In the 16th century it was thought that the name came from the Roman name Uzella, translated as Les Uchel in Cornish. In the 17th century popular opinion was that the name came from a translation of Lost (a tail) and Withiel (a lion), the lion in question being the lord who lived in the castle.Current thinking is that the name comes from the Old Cornish Lost Gwydeyel meaning "The place at the tail end of the forest". The view from Restormel Castle looking towards the town shows how this may have came to be.