Tin bounds were an ancient legal arrangement used in the counties of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

in South West England to encourage the exploitation of land for the extraction of

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, ...

. Tin bounds were created by the miner (or 'bounder') pitching stones or turves at the four corners of the land he intended to work. The bounder was required to declare his bounds to the

stannary court Stannary law (derived from the la, stannum for tin) is the body of English law that governs tin mining in Devon and Cornwall; although no longer of much practical relevance, the stannary law remains part of the law of the United Kingdom and is ...

and to renew them annually by re-pitching the stones or turves. During the early history of mining, the bounder was also required to actually work the land for tin in order for the bounds to remain valid, although this requirement was diluted over time. Tin bounds did not confer any rights of ownership over the land, only protection against others mining for tin in the same plot of land. The arrangement applied only to tin, not to other metals or minerals. The bounder was required to pay the freeholder of the land a portion of the tin extracted. This portion was known as toll tin. Although tin bounding has never been abolished, the use of tin bounds as the mechanism for permitting and regulating the right to work for tin was later superseded by the use of

mining sett Mining setts were a legal arrangement used historically in the counties of Devon and Cornwall in South West England to manage the exploitation of land for the extraction of tin. The term was also used on the Isle of Man.''Manx Sun'', Saturday, Fe ...

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See also