ABSTRACT
The Latin maxim cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum means a person entitled to possession of land has exclusive rights upwards to the Sun and downward to the centre of the Earth. See generally the history of this maxim discussed by Lord Wilberforce in Commissioner for Railways v Valuer – General (1974) at 351. The application of this maxim in England can be traced back to at least 1285, although it is suggested by Professor Butt (at p 206) that its origins may lie in Jewish law at least 1,000 years earlier.
