The parish of Boyton lies in the Hundred of Stratton and the Deanery of Trigg-Major; it is about five miles North of Launceston. The parishes of Week St Mary and North Tamerton join it on the Cornish side, otherwise it abuts, and is nearly surrounded by the former Devon parishes of North Petherwin, Werrington, St Giles-in-the-Heath, and the Devon parish of Luffincott and a Devon village called Northcot Hamlet which crosses the River Tamar. The road to Boyton from Launceston crosses through more than two miles of Devon. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Boitone. Boyton sits almost on the border between Devon and Cornwall