 The earliest form of the name is Keynwen (1259), from "keyn" ridge and "gwen" white but the modern Cornish form has been interpreted as "Splendid Chief".Arthur Langdon (1896) describes a Cornish cross in the manor house grounds at Eastbourne, Sussex, which was originally at Kenwyn.Davies Gilbert, a former resident of the manor house removed it from a roadside gate west of Truro where it was in use as a gatepost and had it transported to Eastbourne in 1817.