The organisation of the Cornish beacon chain in 1539 drew on the existing tradition of coastal watch by the Cornish tin miners, who were the most naturally suited community for maintaining headland watches due to their outdoor working patterns and intimate knowledge of the coastal landscape. The formal appointment of tin miners as beacon keepers gave legal recognition to a practice that had existed informally for generations and created a professional coastal intelligence network covering the most remote county in England.
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Cornish tin miners appointed as beacon keepers; county administration coordinating the network
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