Launceston (derivation: Cornish lann = church site + saint's name (St. Stephen) = lannstevan + ton = farm - Saxon: Duneved) is a market town in Cornwall close to the River Tamar. It is about 18 km (about 11 miles) north of Tavistock in a strategic position between the relative wastelands of Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor and near the border with Devon, about 18 km (11 miles) north of Tavistock.
The ruins of a 13th-century castle still stand. It was the Cornish capital until 1838. Its current population is a little over 7000.