Villagers accused the Prince of Wales of “bully tactics” on Tuesday after he invoked an ancient right to mine under their homes.
Officials at his Duchy of Cornwall estate have written to the residents of Stoke Climsland to inform them he owns the land beneath their houses. The Duchy wants the home owners to alter their property deeds to reflect his right to the metals and elements under their floors.
Cornwall sits on large beds of metals and minerals and moves are under way to revive its tin mining industry.
Residents in Stoke Climsland claim they are being “bullied” by the Prince. Clive Donner, one of the 1,600 villagers and a former policeman, said the Duchy had given them until Dec 3 to reply.
If villagers object, they must seek legal advice and provide relevant documentation and deeds, which could result in legal bills of thousands of pounds.
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16 Nov 2013Mr Donner, 60, said: “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.
“I also have deeds from as far back as 1847 for our property and again it does not mention anywhere anything about rights of the Duchy.
“They say they are not planning any mining but just following the law.
“If this was the case, why not just let the whole mining minerals application dissolve into history, or at the very least state that the Duchy has no intention now or in the future to conduct any mining in or under any home owners’ property?”
He added: “The document states that if we do not reply it will take this as meaning we agree to the Duchy’s request and application. Employing a legal adviser would cost a small fortune and is out of reach for all of us.
“This is nothing more than bully tactics and has been done to ensure that the Duchy gets what it wants and that we, the actual owners, and the people who live here, have no chance to challenge the application.”
Officials deny the move indicates any intent to start boring into ground under the buildings, some of which are 16th century. In recent years large deposits of indium, which is used to make liquid crystal displays, have been discovered in Cornwall, estimated to be worth £200 million.
The Duchy insists that it has effectively owned the soil beneath the 130,000-acre estate since its creation in 1337 and is “simply registering its existing rights”.
A spokesman said mining and mineral rights were not included on the original Stoke Climsland deeds because a 19th-century act of parliament granted the mines and minerals reservations separately to the Duchy.
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