Cornwall's written story begins with tin. From the Bronze Age its metal was known and traded across Europe, and the search for it shaped the county's earliest economy. In the medieval period the trade was regulated through the stannaries, with the coinage towns assaying and coining the metal.
The sixteenth century brought upheaval. In 1549 the Prayer Book Rebellion rose in Cornwall and Devon against the new English liturgy, and it was defeated with heavy loss.
Then came the boom and the bust. In the 19th century copper and tin mining expanded and then collapsed under overseas competition, and thousands of Cornish miners took their skills to mines across the world. From the later 19th century the railway brought a different kind of visitor, and tourism slowly became central to the county's economy.
None of this is finished. Cornwall is still working out what it makes, mines, grows and welcomes, and the answer keeps changing.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwall
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stannary
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_Book_Rebellion
Last checked: 2026-10-11