Indian Queens
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Indian Queens shown within Cornwall | |
Population | 500-600 |
OS grid reference | SW917588 |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | ST. COLUMB |
Postcode district | TR9 |
Dialling code | 01726 |
Police | Devon and Cornwall |
Fire | Cornwall |
Ambulance | South Western |
EU Parliament | South West England |
UK Parliament | |
Indian Queens (Cornish: Krows Karworgi) is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated west of Goss Moor and north of Fraddon approximately ten miles (16 km) west-southwest of Bodmin. It is in the civil parish of St Enoder
The A30 trunk road ran through the village until the construction of a bypass in the 1990s.
The village is the site of a Victorian era preaching pit constructed out of a disused quarry: the pit comprises large stepped rings and a preaching area the size and shape of half a bandstand.
A number of stories try to explain who the Indian Queen was. Each version agrees that the name comes from the name of a coach/post house or inn. The name cannot be traced earlier than the 19th century. The inn was built on a plot of land known as White Splat in the late 18th century. The Indian Queen Inn stood beside the road leading from Goss Moor to Fraddon, just below the top of the hill. The pub had a small porch and displayed as a sign the portrait of an Indian queen. An inscription on the porch told the story of a Portuguese princess who landed at Falmouth in packet days, and slept one night at this inn on her way to London. Her swarthy appearance gave onlookers the impression that she was an Indian.
It has also been suggested that the royal lady was Pocahontas (1595–1617), an American Indian who was the younger daughter of Powhatan, chief of the Indian tribes who lived along the Virginia coast. There is very little evidence to support this story; nevertheless, it is still commonly given as the origin of the name. Pocahontas's name has been given to a modern street in Indian Queens known as Pocahontas Crescent.