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Following
the Dartmoor "tin rush", Plympton was designated
in 1328 one of four Devon stannary towns, (so called
from the Latin word for tin, stannum). The
other three were Tavistock, Ashburton and Chagford.
Tinners were required to take their metal to a stannary
town, where the tin was weighed and stamped, and
duty paid on it. In Plympton, this took place in
Fore Street at a weekly tin court. Twice a year
officials checked the quality of the tin at a "coinage".
From each block of pure tin, weighing two to three
hundred pounds, a small corner, or quoin, was chiselled
for testing. Our word "coin" comes from this process.
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Stannary
courts rigorously upheld the stannary laws. Tin
was obtained from Dartmoor by the process known
as "streaming" where, as in gold panning, the metal
is separated from gravel by using water. As a result
of washing through these deposits, many of the streams
draining Dartmoor became full of silt. Richard Strode,
Plympton's Member of Parliament, introduced a bill
in 1512 to curb tin mining on the Moor. He said
that the streaming was responsible for the rapid
silting of the Plym and other estuaries. He was
tried by courts in all four stannary towns, convicted
of acting against the interests of the tinners,
and imprisoned in Lydford Castle. On his release
Strode returned to Parliament, and a statute was
passed granting him and other Members immunity from
legal action. This was the beginning of Parliamentary
Privilege, a cornerstone of our democracy.
Based on:
© MILLS, Audrey F, 1981: Plympton St.
Maurice Guide, First Edition, Plympton
St. Maurice Civic Association.
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