Constitutional status of Cornwall
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The constitutional status of Cornwall has been a matter of debate and dispute. In modern times,
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...
is an
administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
of
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. In ethnic and cultural terms, until around 1700, Cornwall and its inhabitants were regarded as a separate people by their English neighbours. One aspect of the distinct identity of Cornwall is the
Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, ...
, which survived into the early modern period and has been revived in modern times.


History


Prior to the Norman Conquest

In pre-Roman times, Cornwall was part of the kingdom of
Dumnonia Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...
. Later, it was known to the Anglo-Saxons as ''West Wales'', to distinguish it from North Wales, that is, modern-day Wales. The name ''Cornwall'' is a combination of two elements. The second derives from the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
word '' wealh'', meaning "Celt", "Roman", "Briton", which also survives in the words ''Wales'' and ''Welsh''. The first element "Corn", indicating the shape of the peninsula, is descended from Celtic ''kernou'', an Indo-European word related to English ''horn'' and Latin ''cornu''. The ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...
'' records a battle in 825 and quotes "The Wealas (Cornish) and the Defnas (men of Devon) fought at Gafulforda". Gafulforda is thought to be Galford near
Lew Trenchard Lewtrenchard is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. Most of the larger village of Lewdown is in the parish. In the Domesday Book of 1086, a manor of Lew is recorded in this area and two rivers h ...
on the banks of the
River Lew A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
(tributary of the Lyd), though some translations render it as
Camelford Camelford ( kw, Reskammel) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed ...
, some 60 km further west. References in contemporary charters (for which there is either an original manuscript or an early copy regarded as authentic) show
Egbert of Wessex Ecgberht (770/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, Ecgbriht, Ecgbeorht, and Ecbert, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was King Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s, Ecgberht was forced into exile to Charlem ...
(802–839) granting lands in Cornwall at
Kilkhampton Kilkhampton ( kw, Kylgh) is a village and civil parish in northeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is on the A39 about four miles (6 km) north-northeast of Bude. Kilkhampton was mentioned in the Domesday Book as "Chilc ...
, ''Ros'', Maker, Pawton (in
St Breock St Breock ( kw, Nanssans) is a village and a civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The spelling St Breoke was also formerly in use. Geography St Breock village is 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Wadebridge immediately to the sou ...
, not far from Wadebridge, head manor of Pydar in Domesday Book), ''Caellwic'' (perhaps
Celliwig Celliwig, Kelliwic or Gelliwic is perhaps the earliest named location for the court of King Arthur. It may be translated as 'forest grove'. Literary references It is mentioned in the Welsh tale ''Culhwch and Olwen'' whose manuscript dates from the ...
or Kellywick in
Egloshayle Egloshayle (pronounced "eglos-hale" kw, Eglosheyl – meaning church and ''heyl'' meaning estuary) is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is beside the River Camel, southeast of Wadebridge. Th ...
), and Lawhitton to
Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. ...
Abbey and to the Bishop of Sherborne. All of the identifiable locations except Pawton are in the far east of Cornwall, so these references show a degree of West Saxon control over its eastern fringes. Such control had certainly been established in places by the later ninth century, as indicated by the will of King Alfred the Great (871–899). Apart from the reference to Egbert's grant at Pawton there is no indication that English rule extended deep into Cornwall at this stage and the absence of any burhs west of Lydford in the
Burghal Hidage The Burghal Hidage () is an Anglo-Saxon document providing a list of over thirty fortified places (burhs), the majority being in the ancient Kingdom of Wessex, and the taxes (recorded as numbers of hides) assigned for their maintenance.Hill/ Rumb ...
may suggest limitations on the authority of the Kingdom of Wessex in parts of Cornwall.
King Athelstan King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ti ...
, who came to the throne of England in 924 CE, immediately began a campaign to consolidate his power, and by about 926 had taken control of the Kingdom of
Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
, following which he established firm boundaries with other kingdoms such as
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
and Cornwall. The latter agreement, according to 12th century
West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glouc ...
historian
William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...
, ended rights of residence for Cornish subjects in
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
, and fixed the Cornish boundary at the east bank of the
River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...
. At Easter 928, Athelstan held court at Exeter, with the Welsh and "West Welsh" subject rulers present, and by 931 he had appointed a bishop for Cornwall within the English church (i.e. subject to the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury).Orme, Nicholas
''The Saints of Cornwall''
Oxford University Press (2000) , pp. 9–10
The ''
Bodmin manumissions The Bodmin manumissions are records included in a manuscript Gospel book, the Bodmin Gospels or St Petroc Gospels, British Library, Add MS 9381. The manuscript is mostly in Latin, but with elements in Old English and the earliest written example ...
'', two to three generations later, show that the ruling class of Cornwall quickly became "Anglicised", most owners of slaves having Anglo-Saxon names (not necessarily because they were of English descent; some at least were Cornish nobles who changed their names). Among those manumitting (releasing) slaves in the Bodmin record are four English kings, but no Cornish kings, dukes or earls. It is clear that at this time areas beyond the core of Anglo-Saxon settlement were recognised as different by the English kings. Athelstan's successor, Edmund, in a charter for an estate just north of Exeter, styled himself as "King of the English, and ruler of this province of Britons". Edmund's successor Edgar styled himself "King of the English and ruler of the adjacent nations". This was followed by king Aethelred II (978–1016) describing Cornwall not as an English shire, but as a province, or client territory. Surviving charters issued by the Kings of England
Edmund I Edmund I or Eadmund I (920/921 – 26 May 946) was King of the English from 27 October 939 until his death in 946. He was the elder son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife, Queen Eadgifu, and a grandson of King Alfred the Great. Afte ...
(939–946),
Edgar Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...
(959–975),
Edward the Martyr Edward ( ang, Eadweard, ; 18 March 978), often called the Martyr, was King of the English from 975 until he was murdered in 978. Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar, but was not his father's acknowledged heir. On Edgar's death, the leader ...
(975–978), Aethelred II (978–1016), Edmund II (1016),
Cnut Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...
(1016–1035) and
Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æt ...
(1042–1066) record grants of land in Cornwall made by these kings. In contrast to the easterly concentration of the estates held or granted by English kings in the ninth century, the tenth and eleventh-century grants were widely distributed across Cornwall. As is usual with charters of this period, the authenticity of some of these documents is open to question (though Della Hooke has established high reliability for the Cornish material), but that of others (e.g., Edgar's grant of estates at Tywarnhaile and ''Bosowsa'' to his
thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven taluk ...
Eanulf in 960, Edward the Confessor's grant of estates at Traboe, Trevallack, Grugwith and Trethewey to Bishop Ealdred in 1059) is not in any doubt. Some of these grants include exemptions from obligations to the crown which would otherwise accompany land ownership, while retaining others, including those regarding military service. Assuming that these documents are authentic, the attachment of these obligations to the King of England to ownership of land in Cornwall suggests that the area was under his direct rule and implies that the legal and administrative relationship between the king and his subjects was the same there as elsewhere in his kingdom. In 1051, with the exile of
Godwin, Earl of Wessex Godwin of Wessex ( ang, Godwine; – 15 April 1053) was an English nobleman who became one of the most powerful earls in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great (King of England from 1016 to 1035) and his successors. Cnut made Godwin the ...
and his sons and the forfeiture of their earldoms, a man named
Odda Odda () is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county. It was located in southeastern Hordaland ...
was appointed earl over a portion of the lands thus vacated: this comprised
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
, Somerset,
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. Devo ...
, and "Wealas".Swanton, Michael (tr.) (2000). ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', 2nd ed., London, Phoenix Press; p. 177 As ''Wealas'' is Saxon for foreigners, this could mean "West Wales"—that is, Cornwall—or it could mean that he was overlord of the Cornish foreigners in Devon or elsewhere. Elizabethan historian
William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Ann ...
, in the Cornish section of his ''Britannia'', notes that:
As for the Earles, none of British bloud are mentioned but onely Candorus (called by others Cadocus), who is accounted by the late writers the last Earle of Cornwall of British race.


Norman conquest and after

Cornwall was included in the survey, initiated by
William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
, the first Norman king of England, which became known as the ''
Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
'', where it is included as being part of the Norman king's new domain. Cornwall was unusual as Domesday records no Saxon ''
burh A burh () or burg was an Old English fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new const ...
''; a ''burh'' (borough) was the Saxons' centre of legal and administrative power. Moreover, nearly all land was held by one person, William's half-brother Robert of Mortain, who may have been the first Norman to bear the title
Earl of Cornwall The title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne. Condor of Cornwall * Condor of Cornwall, ...
. He held his Cornish lands not as a Tenant in Chief of the King, as was the case with other landowners, but as de facto viceroy. F. M. Stenton tells us that the early Norman compilation known as "The Laws of William the Conqueror" records all regions under West Saxon law. These included Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and Devon. Cornwall is not recorded as being under West Saxon, or English, law. Ingulf was secretary to William the Conqueror and after 1066 was appointed Abbot of Croyland. When his church burned down, he established a fund raising committee to rebuild it. Ingulf's Chronicle tells us:
Henry of Huntingdon Henry of Huntingdon ( la, Henricus Huntindoniensis; 1088 – AD 1157), the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th-century English historian and the author of ''Historia Anglorum'' (Medieval Latin for "History of the English"), ...
, writing about 1129, included Cornwall in his list of shires of England in his ''History of the English''. On the ''Mappa Mundi'', circa 1300, now in
Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...
, Cornwall (as "Cornubia") is one of the very few regions within Britain to be named individually. The significance and relevance of this is unclear; the map belongs to a category of map known as Complex (Great) World Maps and its depiction, within such a world context, should be seen in parallel with related contemporaneous material. The ''
Scrope v Grosvenor ''Scrope v Grosvenor'' (1389) was an early intellectual property lawsuit, specifically regarding the law of arms. One of the earliest heraldic cases brought in England, the case resulted from two different knights in King Richard II's servi ...
'' lawsuit of 1386–1389 upheld the rule that two claimants of the same nation may not bear the same
arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...
. However, the same case allowed Thomas Carminow of Cornwall to continue to do so, as Cornwall was considered a separate country, being "a large land formerly bearing the name of a kingdom". The phrase "England and Cornwall" (''Anglia et Cornubia'') has been used on occasion in post-Norman official documents referring to the Duchy of Cornwall:
William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer (publisher), printer to be the first English retailer of printed boo ...
's 1480 ''Description of Britain'' debated whether or not Cornwall should be shown as separate to, or part of, England.


Tudor period

The Italian
Polydore Vergil Polydore Vergil or Virgil (Italian: ''Polidoro Virgili''; commonly Latinised as ''Polydorus Vergilius''; – 18 April 1555), widely known as Polydore Vergil of Urbino, was an Italian humanist scholar, historian, priest and diplomat, who spent ...
in his ''Anglica Historia'', published in 1535 wrote that four peoples speaking four different languages inhabited Britain:
the whole Countrie of Britain... is divided into iiii partes; whereof the one is inhabited of Englishmen, the other of Scottes, the third of Wallshemen, ndthe fowerthe of Cornishe people, which all differ emonge them selves, either in tongue, ... in manners, or ells in lawes and ordinaunces.
During the Tudor period some travellers regarded the Cornish as a separate cultural group, from which some modern observers conclude that they were a separate ethnic group. For example, Lodovico Falier, an Italian diplomat at the Court of Henry VIII said, "The language of the English, Welsh and Cornish men is so different that they do not understand each other." He went on to give the alleged 'national characteristics' of the three peoples, saying for example "the Cornishman is poor, rough and boorish". Another example is Gaspard de Coligny Châtillon – the French Ambassador in London – who wrote saying that England was not a united whole as it "contains Wales and Cornwall, natural enemies of the rest of England, and speaking a different language". His use of the phrase "the rest of" implies that he believed Cornwall and Wales to be part of England in his sense of the word. Some maps of the British Isles prior to the 17th century showed Cornwall (Cornubia/Cornwallia) as a territory on a par with Wales. However most post-date the incorporation of Wales as a principality of England. Examples include the maps of
Sebastian Munster Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...
(1515),
Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the ''Theatrum Orbis Terraru ...
, and
Girolamo Ruscelli Girolamo Ruscelli (1518–1566) was an Italian Mathematician and Cartographer active in Venice during the early 16th century. He was also an alchemist, writing pseudonymously as Alessio Piemontese. Biography Girolamo Ruscelli was born in Vi ...
. Maps that depict Cornwall as a county of the Kingdom of England and Wales include
Gerardus Mercator Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a 16th-century geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer from the County of Flanders. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on ...
's 1564 atlas of Europe, and
Christopher Saxton Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales. Life and family Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
's 1579 map authorised by
Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
. A miniature "epitome" of Ortelius' map of England and Wales, published in 1595, names Cornwall; the same map displays Kent in an equivalent manner. Maps of Britain which display Cornwall usually in their legends do not refer to Cornwall, e.g. Lily 1548.


17th and 18th centuries

Recognition that several peoples lived within Britain and Ireland continued through the 17th century. For example, after the death of
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
in 1603, the Venetian ambassador wrote that the late queen had ruled over five different 'peoples': "English, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish ... and Irish". Writing in 1616, diplomat Arthur Hopton stated:
England is... divided into 3 great Provinces, or Countries... every of them speaking a several and different language, as English, Welsh and Cornish.
Wales was effectively annexed to the
Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...
in the 16th century by the
Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 ( cy, Y Deddfau Cyfreithiau yng Nghymru 1535 a 1542) were Acts of the Parliament of England, and were the parliamentary measures by which Wales was annexed to the Kingdom of England. Moreover, the legal sys ...
, but references to 'England' in law were not presumed to include Wales (or indeed
Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...
) until the
Wales and Berwick Act 1746 The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 (20 Geo. II, c. 42) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that created a statutory definition of England as including England, Wales and Berwick-upon-Tweed. This definition applied to all Acts passed before ...
. By this time the use of "England and Cornwall" (''Anglia et Cornubia'') had ceased. Because of the tendency of historians to trust the work of their predecessors, Geoffrey of Monmouth's semi-fictional 12th-century ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' remained influential for centuries, often used by writers who were unaware that his work was the source. For example, in 1769 the antiquary
William Borlase William Borlase (2 February 169631 August 1772), Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist. From 1722, he was Rector of Ludgvan, Cornwall, where he died. He is remembered for his works ''The Antiquities of Cornwall'' (1754; 2nd ed., 1769) ...
wrote the following, which is actually a summary of a passage from Geoffrey ook iii:1
Of this time we are to understand what Edward I. says (Sheringham. 'De Anglorum Gentis Origine''p. 129.) that Britain, Wales, and Cornwall, were the portion of
Belinus Belinus the Great was a legendary king of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Brennius. He was probably named after the ancient god Belenus. Earning the crown In an effort to ...
, elder son of Dunwallo, and that that part of the Island, afterwards called England, was divided in three shares, viz. Britain, which reached from the
Tweed Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...
, Westward, as far as the river Ex; Wales inclosed by the rivers
Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...
, and Dee; and Cornwall from the river Ex to the Land's-End.
Another 18th-century writer,
Richard Gough Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reachi ...
, concentrated on a contemporary viewpoint, noting that "Cornwall seems to be another Kingdom", in his "Camden's Britannia", 2nd ed. (4 vols; London, 1806). During the eighteenth century,
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709  – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
created an ironic Cornish
declaration of independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
that he used in his essay ''Taxation no Tyranny'' His irony starts:


19th century

Popular Cornish sentiment during the 19th century appears to have been still strong. For example,
A. K. Hamilton Jenkin Alfred Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin (29 October 1900 – 20 August 1980) was a British historian with a particular interest in Cornish mining, publishing ''The Cornish Miner'', now a classic, in 1927. Birth and education He was born in Redruth on ...
records the reaction of a school pupil who was asked to describe Cornwall's situation replied: "he's kidged to a furren country from the top hand" – i.e., "it's joined to a foreign country from the upper part". This reply was "heard by the whole school with ''much approval'', including old Peggy (the school-dame) herself." The famous crime writer
Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for ''The Moons ...
described Cornwall as: ''Chambers' Journal'' in 1861 described Cornwall as "one of the most un-English of English counties" – a sentiment echoed by the naturalist
W. H. Hudson William Henry Hudson (4 August 1841 – 18 August 1922) – known in Argentina as Guillermo Enrique Hudson – was an English Argentines, Anglo-Argentine author, natural history, naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist. Life Hudson was the ...
who also referred to it as "un-English" and said there were Until the Tin Duties Abolition Act 1838, the Cornish miner was charged twice the level of taxation compared to the English miner. The English practice of charging 'foreigners' double taxation had existed in Cornwall for over 600 years prior to the 1838 Act and was first referenced in William de Wrotham's letter of 1198 AD, published in G. R. Lewis, ''The Stannaries''
908 __NOTOC__ Year 908 ( CMVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * May 15 – The three-year-old Constantine VII, the son of Emperor L ...
The campaigning ''West Briton'' newspaper called the racially applied tax "oppresive and vexatious" (19 January 1838). In 1856 the Westminster Parliament was still able to refer to the Cornish as ''aboriginals'' (Foreshore Case papers, Page 11, Section 25).


Cornish "shires"

Additionally, Cornwall was also divided into " Hundreds", which often bore the name of "shire" in English. In Cornish, they were called (sing. ). Although the name "shire", today implies some kind of county status, hundreds in some English counties often bore the suffix 'shire' as well (e.g., Salfordshire), but where English shires were split into hundreds each having their own constable, Cornish hundreds had constables at parish level. The were not however, English hundreds: ''Triggshire'' came from Tricori 'three warbands', suggesting a military muster area capable of supporting three hundred fighting men. However it must be said that this is an inference from name alone, and does not constitute historical evidence of any fighting force raised by a Cornish hundred. The Cornish replicated England's shire system on a smaller scale. Although by the 15th century the shires of Cornwall had become hundreds, the administrative differences remained in place long after.


Constitutional status – arguments on each side


Current administrative status

Along with other English counties, Cornwall was established as an
administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...
under the changes introduced in the
Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...
, which came into effect on 1 April 1889. This was replaced by a
non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...
of Cornwall in 1974 by the
Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, which includes it under the heading of "England".


The argument for non-English constitutional status

During the latter part of the pre-Norman period, the eastern seaboard of modern-day England became increasingly under the sway of the Norse.
Sweyn Forkbeard Sweyn Forkbeard ( non, Sveinn Haraldsson tjúguskegg ; da, Svend Tveskæg; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 to 1014, also at times King of the English and King of Norway. He was the father of King Harald II of D ...
, the first Danish King of England, died a few weeks after his English opponent
Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...
had fled, so it is probable that he never properly took control of Cornwall. His son
Canute Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...
never properly conquered or controlled Scotland or Wales, but he appears to have had some authority in Cornwall, for in 1027 his counsellor Lyfing of Winchester (already bishop of Crediton) was appointed as
bishop of Cornwall The Bishop of Cornwall was the bishop of a diocese which existed between about 930 and 1050. Nothing is known about bishops in the post-Roman British Kingdom of Cornwall, but by the mid-ninth century Wessex was gaining control over the area, and b ...
( St Germans), beginning the merger which would later form the See of Exeter. The map pictured, by William R. Shepherd (1926), shows Cornwall as ''not'' part of Canute's realm, but this approach is not followed by more recent scholarship, such as David Hill's ''An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England'' (1981). Ultimately, the Danes' control of Wessex was lost in 1042 with the death of both of Canute's sons (Edward the Confessor retook Wessex for the Anglo-Saxons). On 12 February 1857, during the Cornish Foreshore dispute, the Attorney General to the Duchy of Cornwall stated that whether it was held by a viceroy, by the Crown or granted to family or favourites, the Earldom of Cornwall (''Comitatus Cornubiǽ'') included all territorial revenues, rights and property which were held "as of the Honor". He then outlined how, when entrusted to the Crown, Cornwall was held not ''jure coronǽ'' but ''jure Comitatus'' – or ''jure Ducatus'', when augmented to a Duchy – as of the Honor ''in manu Regis existente''. ee foreshore dispute papers In 1328 the Earldom of Cornwall, extinct since the disgrace and execution of
Piers Gaveston Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall (c. 1284 – 19 June 1312) was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of Edward II of England. At a young age, Gaveston made a good impression on King Edward I, who assigned him to the househ ...
in 1312, was recreated and awarded to
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...
, younger brother of
King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...
. In September 1336, shortly before he was due to marry, John died, so his heir was his brother the King, who at the beginning of March the following year proposed to Parliament that the Earldom should become a Royal Duchy, to, in the words of the Royal Declaration that preceded the Charter, "restore notable places of the realm to their pristine honours". This was agreed, and put into law by a "Great Charter" dated 17 March 1337. A second charter, immediately following the "Great Charter", attempted to clarify the Duke's rights specifically within the County of Cornwall. When the first Duke of Cornwall came of age in 1351, one of his first official acts was to carry out his own form of Domesday survey (Commission 25 Edward III). Some say that before the creation of the Duchy, the assets of the Earl of Cornwall (including privileges such as bailiff rights,
stannaries A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from the ore cassiterite mined ...
and wrecks) were subject to Crown escheat, as in the case of
Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall Edmund of Almain (26 December 1249 – 1300) was the second Earl of Cornwall of the fourth creation from 1272. He joined the Ninth Crusade in 1271, but never made it to the Holy Land. He was the regent of the Kingdom of England from 1286 to 1289 ...
(died 1300). However, records contained within the foreshore dispute papers show that entry into Cornwall for the King's Escheator was often barred on grounds that the King's writ does not run in Cornwall. For example, records of the Launceston Eyre of 1284 show Edmund successfully resisting the King's attempted assertion of escheat rights over Cornwall. Edmund's advocate opened his plea with the words, "my liege lord hols Corrnwall above the Lord King in Chief ... so the Escheator of the Lord the King shall not intermeddle in anything belonging to the Sheriff of Cornwall". That same year Edmund is confirmed as having 'right of wreck' in Cornwall oram Regis Rolls 14 Edw.1 Easter No.99, M29d – Foreshore dispute papers The Council for Racial Equality in Cornwall website states: "Cornwall retains a unique and distinct constitutional relationship with the Crown, based on the Duchy of Cornwall and the stannaries. For other purposes it is recognised as a Celtic region or nation and enjoys its own national flag." On 14 July 2009,
Dan Rogerson Daniel John Rogerson (born 23 July 1975, St Austell) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Cornwall from the 2005 general election until his defeat at the 2015 general election. In October 2 ...
MP, of the Liberal Democrats, presented a Cornish 'breakaway' bill to the Parliament in Westminster – The Government of Cornwall Bill. The bill proposed a devolved Assembly for Cornwall, similar to the Welsh and Scottish setup. The bill states that Cornwall should re-assert its rightful place within the United Kingdom. Rogerson argued that "there is a political and social will for Cornwall to be recognised as its own nation. Constitutionally, Cornwall has the right to a level of self-Government. If the Government is going to recognise the right of Scotland and Wales to greater self-determination because of their unique cultural and political positions, then they should recognise ours."


The argument for English county status

Some people reject all claims that Cornwall is, or ought to be, distinct from England. While recognising that there are local peculiarisms, they point out that
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, Kent, and
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
(for example) also have local customs and identities that do not seem to undermine their essential Englishness. The legal claims concerning the Duchy, they argue, are without merit except as relics of mediaeval feudalism, and they contend that Stannary law applied not to Cornwall as a 'nation', but merely to the guild of tin miners. Rather, they argue that Cornwall has been not only in English possession, but part of England itself, either since Athelstan conquered it in 936, since the administrative centralisation of the
Tudor dynasty The House of Tudor was a royal house of largely Welsh and English origin that held the English throne from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd and Catherine of France. Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of England and it ...
, or since the creation of
Cornwall County Council Cornwall County Council ( kw, Konteth Konsel Kernow) was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Cornwall in south west England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 2009. History Cornwall County Counc ...
in 1888. Finally, they agree with representatives of the
Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a Middle Ages, medieval country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once exis ...
itself that the Duchy is, in essence, a real estate company that serves to raise income for the Prince of Wales. They compare the situation of the Duchy of Cornwall with that of the Duchy of Lancaster, which has similar rights in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, which is indisputably part of England. The proponents of such perspectives include not only Unionists, but most branches and agencies of government. Below are some indications that would tend to support the assertion that for more than the last thousand years Cornwall has been governed as a part of England and in a way indistinguishable from other parts of England:


Governmental position in the 21st century

In 2008, the government said it will not be undertaking a review of the constitutional status of Cornwall and will not be changing the status of the county. The Justice Minister, Michael Wills, replying to a question from Andrew George MP, stated that "Cornwall is an administrative county of England, electing MPs to the UK Parliament, and is subject to UK legislation. It has always been an integral part of the Union. The Government have no plans to alter the constitutional status of Cornwall." In 2015, Cornwall was granted a devolution deal, the first of its kind given to a council authority. It was criticised by devolution campaigners and nationalists for not ceding enough powers to Cornwall -
Mebyon Kernow Mebyon Kernow – The Party for Cornwall (, MK; Cornish for ''Sons of Cornwall'') is a Cornish nationalist, centre-left political party in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. It currently has five elected councillors on Cornwall Council, and s ...
leader Dick Cole argued Cornwall should be given devolution powers like those of
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
or
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.


Moves for recognition of legal autonomy


The Duchy of Cornwall

The duchy was established in 1337 out of the former earldom of Cornwall by Edward III of England for his son, Edward, Prince of Wales, the "Black Prince", who became the first Duke of Cornwall. The duke obtained greater rights over Cornwall than the earls had previously exercised. These increased powers over Cornwall included the right to appoint
sheriffs A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
, ''
bona vacantia Unowned property includes tangible, physical things that are capable of being reduced to being property owned by a person but are not owned by anyone. ' (Latin for "ownerless goods") is a legal concept associated with the unowned property, which e ...
'',
treasure trove A treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the hei ...
, and a separate exchequer. Most of these rights are still exercised by the duchy. The Kilbrandon Report (1969–1971) into the British constitution recommends that, when referring to
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...
, official sources should "on all appropriate occasions" use the designation of ''duchy'' when referring to Cornwall itself, in recognition of its "special relationship" with the Crown. In 1780
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
sought to curtail further the power of the Crown by removing the various principalities which he said existed as different aspects of the monarchy within the country: Some
Cornish people The Cornish people or Cornish ( kw, Kernowyon, ang, Cornƿīelisċ) are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall: and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons w ...
, including
Cornish Solidarity Cornish Solidarity (''Unvereth Kernewek'' in Cornish) was a Cornish direct action protest group founded in 1998, campaigning for Cornish issues, principally including Objective One status for Cornwall and more support for the Cornish economy in ...
and the group claiming to be the
Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament The Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament ( Cornish: ''Seneth Stenegow Kernow''), is a pressure group which claimed to be a revival of the historic Cornish Stannary Parliament last held in 1753. It was established in 1974 and campaigned, up unti ...
, argue that Cornwall has a ''
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
'' status apart as a sovereign duchy extraterritorial to England. A commonly cited basis for this argument is a case of arbitration between the Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall (the
Cornish Foreshore Case The Cornish Foreshore Case was an arbitration case held between 1854 and 1858 to resolve a formal dispute between the British Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall over the rights to minerals and mines under the foreshore of Cornwall Cornwall (; ...
) in which the officers of the duchy successfully argued that the duchy enjoyed many of the rights and prerogatives of a
county palatine In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palātīnus'', "relating to ...
and that although the duke was not granted royal jurisdiction, was considered to be quasi-sovereign within his Duchy of Cornwall. The arbitration, as instructed by the Crown, was based on legal argument and documentation, and led to the Cornwall Submarine Mines Act 1858. The officers of the duchy, based on its researches, made this submission:
# That Cornwall, like Wales, was at the time of the Conquest, and was subsequently treated in many respects as distinct from England. # That it was held by the Earls of Cornwall with the rights and prerogative of a County Palatine, as far as regarded the Seignory or territorial dominion. # That the Dukes of Cornwall have from the creation of the Duchy enjoyed the rights and prerogatives of a County Palatine, as far as regarded seignory or territorial dominion, and that to a great extent by Earls. # That when the Earldom was augmented into a Duchy, the circumstances attending to its creation, as well as the language of the Duchy Charter, not only support and confirm natural presumption, that the new and higher title was to be accompanied with at least as great dignity, power, and prerogative as the Earls enjoyed, but also afforded evidence that the Duchy was to be invested with still more extensive rights and privileges. # The Duchy Charters have always been construed and treated, not merely by the Courts of Judicature, but also by the Legislature of the Country, as having vested in the Dukes of Cornwall the whole territorial interest and dominion of the Crown in and over the entire County of Cornwall.
However, the term '
county palatine In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palātīnus'', "relating to ...
' appears not to have been used historically of Cornwall, and the duchy did not have as much autonomy as the
County Palatine of Durham The County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge, commonly referred to as County Durham or simply Durham, is a historic county in Northern England. Until 1889, it was controlled by powers granted under the Bishopric of Durham. The county and Northum ...
, which was ruled by the
Prince-Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham s ...
. However, whilst not specifically called a county palatine, the officers of the duchy made the observation (Duchy Preliminary Statement – Cornish Foreshore Dispute 1856):
The Dukes also had their own escheators in Cornwall, and it is deserving of notice that in the saving clause of the Act of Escheators, 1 Henry VIII., c. 8, s. 5 (as is the case in numerous other acts of Parliament), the Duchy of Cornwall is classed with counties undoubtedly palatinate.


The stannaries and their revival

In 1974, a group has claimed to be a revived
Cornish Stannary Parliament The Cornish Stannary Parliament (officially The Convocation of the Tinners of Cornwall) was the representative body of the Cornish stannaries, which were chartered in 1201 by King John. In spite of the name, the Parliament was not a Cornish n ...
and have the ancient right of Cornish tin-miners' assemblies to veto legislation from
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, although it opposed the Duchy of Cornwall. In 1977 the
Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...
MP
Dafydd Wigley Dafydd Wynne Wigley, Baron Wigley, (born David Wigley; 1 April 1943) is a Welsh politician. He served as Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001 and as Assembly Member for Caernarfon from 1999 until 2003. He w ...
in Parliament asked the
Attorney General for England and Wales His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney ...
,
Samuel Silkin Samuel Charles Silkin, Baron Silkin of Dulwich, PC, QC (6 March 1918 – 17 August 1988) was a British Labour Party politician and cricketer. Early life He was the second son of Lewis Silkin (afterwards Baron Silkin), a Labour Member of Pa ...
, if he would provide the date upon which enactments of the Charter of Pardon of 1508 were rescinded. A letter in reply, received from the
Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
on 14 May 1977 and now held at the
National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...
, stated that the charter had never been formally withdrawn or amended, however that "no doubt has ever been expressed" that Parliament could legislate for the stannaries without the need to seek the consent of the stannators. The group seem to have been inactive since 2008.


Moves for a change of constitutional status


Campaigns for fuller regional autonomy

An early campaign for an independent Cornwall was put forward during the first
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
by
Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Grenville (26 June 1600 – 21 October 1659) was a professional soldier from Cornwall, who served in the Thirty Years War, and 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. He was the younger brother of Sir Bevil Grenville, who died a ...
. He tried to use "Cornish particularist sentiment" to gather support for the Royalist cause. The Cornish were fighting for their Royalist privileges, notably the
Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a Middle Ages, medieval country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once exis ...
and
Stannaries A stannary was an administrative division established under stannary law in the English counties of Cornwall and Devon to manage the collection of tin coinage, which was the duty payable on the metal tin smelted from the ore cassiterite mined ...
and he put a plan to the Prince which would, if implemented, have created a semi-independent Cornwall. In the same vein, the
Cornish Constitutional Convention The Cornish Constitutional Convention (CCC; kw, Senedh Kernow) was formed in November 2000 with the objective of establishing a devolved Cornish Assembly (Senedh Kernow). The convention is a cross-party, cross-sector association with support both ...
– composed of a number of political groups in Cornwall (including Mebyon Kernow) – gathered about 50,000 signatures in 2000 on a petition to create a
Cornish Assembly A Cornish Assembly ( kw, Senedh Kernow) is a proposed devolved law-making assembly for Cornwall along the lines of the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) and the Northern Ireland Assembly in the United Kingdom. The campaign fo ...
resembling the
National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...
. The petition was undertaken in the context of an ongoing debate on whether to devolve power to the
English regions The regions, formerly known as the government office regions, are the highest tier of sub-national division in England, established in 1994. Between 1994 and 2011, nine regions had officially devolved functions within government. While they no ...
, of which Cornwall is part of the
South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
. Cornwall Council's February 2003
MORI Mori is a Japanese and Italian surname, and also a Persian pet name for Morteza. It is also the name of two clans in Japan, and one clan in India. Italian surname *Barbara Mori, Uruguayan-Mexican actress * Camilo Mori, Chilean painter * Cesare ...
poll showed 55% in favour of an elected, fully devolved regional assembly for Cornwall and 13% against. (Previous result: 46% in favour in 2002.) However the same poll indicated an equal number of respondents in favour of a South West Regional Assembly. The campaign had the support of all five Cornish Lib Dem MPs at the time,
Mebyon Kernow Mebyon Kernow – The Party for Cornwall (, MK; Cornish for ''Sons of Cornwall'') is a Cornish nationalist, centre-left political party in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. It currently has five elected councillors on Cornwall Council, and s ...
, and Cornwall Council. Lord Whitty, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the
Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a United Kingdom Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The position and department ...
, in the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, recognised that Cornwall has a "special case" for
devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...
, and on a visit to Cornwall deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said "Cornwall has the strongest regional identity in the UK." The
Conservative and Unionist Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the Two-party system, two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. ...
under
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
appointed
Mark Prisk Michael Mark Prisk (born 12 June 1962) is a British politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Hertford and Stortford from 2001 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Minister of State for Business and Enterprise from 2 ...
as Shadow Minister for Cornwall on 26 July 2007. The party said that the move was aimed at putting Cornwall's concerns "at the heart of Conservative thinking". However, the new coalition government established in 2010 under
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
's leadership did not appoint a Minister for Cornwall. Cornwall's distinctiveness as a ''national'', as opposed to regional, minority has been periodically recognised by major British papers. For example, a ''
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
'' editorial in 1990 pointed to these differences, and warned that they should be constitutionally recognised: ''The Guardian'' also carried an article in November 2008 titled "Self-rule for Cornwall" written by the human rights campaigner
Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...
. Tatchell concluded his article with the question, However, in a newspaper article the Conservative MP for Camborne & Redruth,
George Eustice Charles George Eustice (born 28 September 1971) is a British politician and former public relations executive who held office as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2020 and 2022. A member of the Conservative Par ...
, stated in September 2014 that "However, we definitely do not need to waste money on flash new parliament buildings and yet another tier of politicians so I completely disagree with the idea of a Welsh style assembly in Cornwall." The Labour Party in Cornwall also rejected the notion.


Cornish cultural, civic and ethnic nationalism

While nearly all agree that Cornwall, along with Scotland, Wales and parts of
Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
forms part of the British periphery in economic and social terms, some observers express surprise at enduring sentiments in Cornwall; Adrian Lee, for example, while considering Cornwall to be part of England, also considers it to have a unique status ''within'' England: Some
Cornish people The Cornish people or Cornish ( kw, Kernowyon, ang, Cornƿīelisċ) are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall: and a recognised national minority in the United Kingdom, which can trace its roots to the ancient Britons w ...
will, in addition to making the legal or constitutional arguments mentioned above, stress that the Cornish are a distinct ethnic group, that people in Cornwall typically refer to 'England' as beginning east of the Tamar, and that there is a
Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, ...
. For the first time in a UK Census, those wishing to describe their ethnicity as Cornish were given their own code number (06) on the
2001 UK Census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
form, alongside those for people wishing to describe themselves as English,
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
, Irish or Scottish. About 34,000 people in Cornwall and 3,500 people in the rest of the UK wrote on their census forms in 2001 that they considered their ethnic group to be Cornish. This represented nearly 7% of the population of Cornwall and is therefore a significant phenomenon. Although happy with this development, campaigners expressed reservations about the lack of publicity surrounding the issue, the lack of a clear tick-box for the Cornish option on the census and the need to deny being British to write "Cornish" in the field provided. There have been calls for the tick box option to be extended to the Cornish, however this petition did not meet with sufficient support (639 people signed up, 361 more were needed) for the 2011 Census, as a Welsh and English tick box option was recently agreed by the government.


See also

*
Constitutional reform in the United Kingdom There have been various proposals for constitutional reform in the United Kingdom. Current system The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy governed via a Westminster system of parliamentary democracy ...
*
Royal charters applying to Cornwall This is a list of charters promulgated by kings of England that specifically relate to Cornwall, which was incorporated into the Kingdom of England late in the Anglo-Saxon period. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the kings of Wessex became the ruler ...
*
List of topics related to Cornwall The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall: Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and wes ...
*
Constitutional status of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles The island groups of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are all currently regions of Scotland. Their constitutional status has periodically been discussed, for example during the Scottish independence referendum campaign. Currently, they a ...
*
Wiktionary Wiktionary ( , , rhyming with "dictionary") is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary of terms (including words, phrases, proverbs, linguistic reconstructions, etc.) in all natural languages and in a number ...
definitions for Cornish,
nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...
and
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...


References


External links


The Cornish Stannary ParliamentMaps of Cornwall
on
h2g2 The h2g2 website is a British-based collaborative online encyclopedia project. It describes itself as "an unconventional guide to life, the universe, and everything", in the spirit of the fictional publication '' The Hitchhiker's Guide to ...

The Cornish Assembly – Senedh Kernow This is not Cornwall
(in Cornish)
The Cornish: A Neglected Nation?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constitutional Status of Cornwall Politics of Cornwall Home rule in the United Kingdom Constitution of the United Kingdom Politics of the United Kingdom Government of the United Kingdom Law of the United Kingdom Cornish nationalism Legal history of the United Kingdom