A ‘lyffe in pyttes and caves’: Exclusionary geographies of the west country tinners

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the socio-spatial exclusion of ‘outsider’ human groupings of many different kinds, but the marginalisation of certain populations through their occupational niche in the world of work has rarely been considered in this context. There could be merit in examining more closely the hardships, experiences and voices of many workers whose occupations place them outside of the usual socio-spatial round. This case is exemplified through an inquiry into the often harsh exclusionary geographies of the ‘tinners’ (principally the tinminers) who laboured in the ‘wild country’ of the British West Country (Cornwall and Devon) from Medieval times until more recently, with particular reference to the tinners of Dartmoor. Mention is also made of the socio-spatial exclusions that the tinners themselves created through the enacting and policing of ‘stannary law’ indicating that they should be seen as a grouping capable of effecting a measure of resistance from the margins.