Feudal times for villagers in Cornwall who woke up to find letters from the Duchy of Cornwall informing them that Prince Charles was restating a 600 year-old claim to the land beneath their houses, and telling them that he has the right to mine under their homes.
The Duchy says it has effectively owned the soil beneath the 130,000-acre estate since its creation in 1337 and is “simply registering its existing rights”, according to a report in the Telegraph today.
One problem - the residents of Stoke Climsland are no longer humble peasantry prepared to take this kind of nonsense lying down.
Clive Donner, 60, told the Telegraph: “When we purchased the property I examined the deeds. Nowhere does it mention that Prince Charles has the mining and mineral rights in or under our homes…This is nothing more than bully tactics and has been done to ensure that the Duchy gets what it wants.”
