1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Grampound

GRAMPOUND, a small market town in the mid-parliamentary division of Cornwall, England, 9 m. E.N.E. of Truro, and 2 m. from its station (Grampound Road) on the Great Western railway. It is situated on the river Fal, and has some industry in tanning. It retains an ancient town hall; there is a good market cross; and in the neighbourhood, along the Fal, are several early earthworks.

Grampound (Ponsmure, Graundpont, Grauntpount, Graundpond) and the hundred, manor and vill of Tibeste were formerly so closely associated that in 1400 the former is found styled the vill of Grauntpond called Tibeste. At the time of the Domesday Survey Tibeste was amongst the most valuable of the manors granted to the count of Mortain. The burgensic character of Ponsmure first appears in 1299. Thirty-five years later John of Eltham granted to the burgesses the whole town of Grauntpount. This grant was confirmed in 1378 when its extent and jurisdiction were defined. It was provided that the hundred court of Powdershire should always be held there and two fairs at the feasts of St Peter in Cathedra and St Barnabas, both of which are still held, and a Tuesday market (now held on Friday) and that it should be a free borough rendering a yearly rent to the earl of Cornwall. Two members were summoned to parliament by Edward VI. in 1553. The electors consisted of an indefinite number of freemen, about 50 in all, indirectly nominated by the mayor and corporation, which existed by prescription. The venality of the electors became notorious. In 1780 £3000 was paid for a seat: in 1812 each supporter of one of the candidates received £100. The defeat of this candidate in 1818 led to a parliamentary inquiry which disclosed a system of wholesale corruption, and in 1821 the borough was disfranchised. A former woollen trade is extinct.