The Railways Clauses Consolidation (Scotland) Act 1845, sec. 70, enacts – ‘The company shall not be entitled to any mines of coal, ironstone, slate, or other minerals under any land purchased by them . . . and all such mines . . . shall be deemed to be excepted out of the conveyance of such lands. . . . ‘
Held ( rev. Second Division) that sandstone forming the ordinary rock of the district is not included in the statutory reservation.
Per Lord Chancellor-‘In the first place, I think it is clear that by the words ‘or other minerals’ exceptional substances are designated, not the ordinary rock of the district. In the second place, I think that in deciding whether or not in a particular case exceptional substances are minerals . . the Court has to determine ‘what these words meant in the vernacular of the mining world, the commercial world, and landowners’ at the time when the purchase was effected, and whether the particular substance was so regarded as a mineral.’
Judges:
The Lord Chancellor (Loreburn), Lord James, Lord Atkinson, Lord Gorell, and Lord Shaw
Citations:
47 SLR 23, [1909] UKHL 23
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Land
Updated: 25 April 2022; Ref: scu.620589
