Tinney, Tenney and Teny, are all surnames of people that have lived around this area since before the 1600's.

Local people often refer to the farm as St. Tinneys.

The transcript by of the 1841 Census of Otterham, by the Cornwall Online Census Project refers to the farm as Sentinny, with the following residents.

"Sentinny,1,John Jose, 75, Farmer, In county
Phillipa Jose, 60, In county
Mary Jose, 30, In county
Elizabeth Jose, 20, In county
John Trewyn, 35, Ag Lab, In county"

But by the 1891 Census, the details have changed to:
"St Tinney, 1, John Parnell, Head, M, 44, Farmer, Employer, Otterham Cornwall,
Emma Parnell, Wife, M, 32, Otterham Cornwall,
Mary E Parnell, Dau, S, 2, Otterham Cornwall,
Melinda M Parnell, Dau, S, 8m, Otterham Cornwall,
Richard Bartlett,Servnt, S, 22, Farm Servant (Dom), Employed, Forrabury Cornwall"

It may be that Sentinny was the original name of the farm, or that the scribe simply mis-understood the Cornish accent and St. Tinney (Sentinny) just stuck! Or it may be that St. Tinney is a corruption of other Cornish or Saxon words. If anyone has any further information, we'd love to hear from you.

St. Tinney Farm is located in the tiny hamlet of Otterham (place of otters), taking its name in turn from the River Otter, which runs through the farm. Otterham is referred to as Otrham in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears to be described as a fortified settlement.

Going further back in time, ancient people have certainly left their mark on the area, with many Tumuli (burial mounds) and earthworks. Archaeological evidence found on the farm and surrounding areas include ancient Cornish military horse armour and stone tools, suggest that people have worked the land here since the Stone Age (for more than 6,000 years).