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Who Owns England?

Guy Shrubsole

4.29 · Rating details · 355 ratings · 54 reviews

'A formidable, brave and important book' Robert Macfarlane

Who owns England?

Behind this simple question lies this country's oldest and best-kept secret. This is the history of how England's elite came to own our land, and an inspiring manifesto for how to open up our countryside once more.

This book has been a long time coming. Since 1086, in fact. For centuries, England's ...more

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Kindle Edition, 400 pages

Published May 2nd 2019 by William Collins

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Jan 26, 2020 Fiona rated it liked it

Shelves: netgalley, e-books, politics

This book appealed to me because I had read and thoroughly enjoyed The Poor Had No Lawyers: Who Owns Scotland. It was probably only a matter of time before someone looked to the rest of Great Britain. Guy Shrubsole’s writing style is less formal than Wightman’s. He writes in what I would term Sunday supplement style, ie chatty and easy to read, not too taxing.

Shrubsole looks at major landowners in turn - the Church, the Crown, the aristocracy, the MOD, nature and land conservation agencies, and This book appealed to me because I had read and thoroughly enjoyed The Poor Had No Lawyers: Who Owns Scotland. It was probably only a matter of time before someone looked to the rest of Great Britain. Guy Shrubsole’s writing style is less formal than Wightman’s. He writes in what I would term Sunday supplement style, ie chatty and easy to read, not too taxing.

Shrubsole looks at major landowners in turn - the Church, the Crown, the aristocracy, the MOD, nature and land conservation agencies, and so on. Little of what I read was news to me. The most interesting chapter by far concentrates on land held in trust by bodies committed to protecting and conserving our wild spaces and species. I didn’t know that the financier Charles Rothschild is responsible for introducing the concept of the nature reserve of which there are now 2,300 across England and Wales. He is owed a huge debt of gratitude in that respect.

The book ends with an agenda for English land reform (Wales drifts in and out of being included in his agenda) in which Shrubsole sets out 10 aims ranging from, to select a few in no particular order, ending the secrecy around land ownership in England, to fixing the housing crisis, the farming system (other than the beneficiaries, no one can surely support the continuation of the scandalous subsidies handed out to wealthy landowners for doing nowt), restoring nature’s abundance, curbing corporate use of land as an asset, to the introduction of open access to match that in Scotland. The Right to Roam is well established in Scotland and there are few areas that are not open access for all. In England and Wales, however, despite new access laws introduced in 2000, astonishingly only 10% of land is open access and the percentage diminishes the further south you travel. In general, Shrubsole’s agenda is impressive and heartfelt but sadly it’s not realistic.

This is a fairly short book, dense with references and statistics at times, and the writing style wasn’t to my taste. 40% of the book consists of the appendices and reference notes at the end. I read the ebook, however, and enjoyed following the links to various websites for more information. 3 stars because it’s a good effort but it doesn’t stand comparison with Andy Wightman’s work, in my opinion.

...more

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May 02, 2019 Lou rated it it was amazing

Having thoroughly enjoyed the land law module of my law degree well over a decade ago due to its complexities and nuances I was eager to learn more about this fascinating area, and this book seemed like the ideal opportunity to do so. Guy Shrubsole uncovers how for centuries the wealthy have undertaken nefarious acts in order to get their hands on the land they desired. Open your mind to the fact that by changing how land ownership operates we can begin to address some of the crises of our time: ...more

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Sep 17, 2019 Tariq Mahmood rated it it was amazing

A fascinating read, who actually owns England? From the aristocracy to the offshore corporations based in tax havens who are involved in land banking, I didn't know who to despise more. But what really offended me were the agricultural subsidies given to big states. I mean I am a mere tenant of a tiny house who has to PAY the council hundreds of pounds every year while these landed states are getting hundreds of thousands of subsidies instead. Why have they not been taxed like the rest of us mer ...more

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Jul 26, 2020 Nigeyb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A fascinating investigation into land and property ownership in England. It's a wide ranging and surprising account which embraces Government departments, Russian Oligarchs, Sheikhs, grouse hunting estates, entrepreneurs and, of course, the aristocracy.

Despite what I used to believe, the landed aristocracy remain remarkably adept at retaining their land and other assets - many have owned the same estates they acquired as part of the Norman landgrab in the 11th century. I was less surprised to d ...more

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Oct 09, 2019 Paul rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-2019

The question, who owns England? is such a simple question. And yet the answer to this is one of our country’s oldest and best-kept secrets. And the keepers of those secrets? Our ancient aristocracy and elite, who between them own vast swathes of our land. So much so, that only 1% (yes one per cent) of the population of the country owns 50% of the land. The Land Registry only knows for definite around 83% of the actual owners of the land of England.

To understand how we are in this situation you h The question, who owns England? is such a simple question. And yet the answer to this is one of our country’s oldest and best-kept secrets. And the keepers of those secrets? Our ancient aristocracy and elite, who between them own vast swathes of our land. So much so, that only 1% (yes one per cent) of the population of the country owns 50% of the land. The Land Registry only knows for definite around 83% of the actual owners of the land of England.

To understand how we are in this situation you have to head back in our history nearly 1000 years, to the time when William the Bastard became William the Conqueror. His victory over Harold allowed him to have the largest land grab and to reward favourite people in his court with lands and property. He commissioned the Doomsday report, to ensure that he hadn’t missed any land that could be of some benefit to the crown.

Some of the descendants of those people granted land by William still own it.

The Crown owns large tracts, as you’d expect and pays tax on the income from those lands. However, it uses its two Duchy’s (Cornwall and Lancaster) to ensure that it isn’t paying tax on other vast swathes of land it has spread all around the country. A lot of land is owned by organisations like the National Trust, the Forestry Commission, the Church owns a lot too, but not as much as they used to, plus other big businesses now own substantial amounts. However, most of the elite and aristocracy don’t want people knowing how much land they have nor do they want you to know how much they are able to claim in benefits from it. They have built walls, moved villages and used the enclosure acts to steal the common land for their own use. All to stop us discovering exactly how much they own.

They now use modern tools to hide their assets away from us and the taxman, so he discovers that lots of land is now owned by shell companies based in tax havens. But the same tools that enable them to do this, can be used to answer the question posed; who owns England? Guy Shrubsole has spent lots of time exploring some of the vast estates and tramping over moors and entering empty Mayfair mansions as well as using the modern tools of digital mapping to answer this question.

This book is his expose of the truths of land ownership and what we can do to wrestle back control of this very limited asset. He has a lot of sensible suggestions on how we can ensure that this tiny elite are no longer the sole beneficiaries of the wealth and power that is derived from land. This struggle will be a long and tedious one as these people will not want to give up land that they have held for time immemorial. He is impassioned about this subject and writes in a very clear way with very well thought out solutions to solve the problem. As you read it you can sense his fury that in the modern age this is still an issue.

It is a must-read for anyone remotely interested in our countryside and landscapes and a call to virtual arms to apply the pressure needed to change the system for the better. ...more

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Jun 13, 2020 Maru Kun rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: c-uk, current-affairs, economics

An FT reporter once asked the Duke of Westminster what advice he’d give to young British entrepreneurs keen to emulate his success. His reply remains notorious for its insight into British society:

“Make sure they have an ancestor who was a very close friend of William the Conqueror”

Briefly, the registration of land ownership in the United Kingdom is only required on transfer, so the ownership of land that hasn’t changed hands for many generations - since it was handed out by William the Conq An FT reporter once asked the Duke of Westminster what advice he’d give to young British entrepreneurs keen to emulate his success. His reply remains notorious for its insight into British society:

“Make sure they have an ancestor who was a very close friend of William the Conqueror”

Briefly, the registration of land ownership in the United Kingdom is only required on transfer, so the ownership of land that hasn’t changed hands for many generations - since it was handed out by William the Conqueror to his close friends back in 1066 for example - remains a mystery to most of the citizens of the country.

I have to wonder, though, whether the Duke of Westminster in making his notorious comment was perhaps being a little coy or even trying to deflect attention away from the source of his great wealth, the Grosvenor Estate, comprising land that is now the ritziest part of London - Mayfair, Belgravia, Grosvenor Square and the rest of it.

If we look at the Wikipedia article for Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet, the first aristocratic owner of the Grosvenor Estate which passed down to the Duke of Westminster, we find that it was not his ancestral friendships with William the Conqueror which made him rich, but rather inheritance of the Estate from a certain Ms Mary Davies.*

And who was this Ms Mary Davies to be so wealthy one may wonder? A Royal Princess perhaps? A friend of Dukes and Earls? Or, dare I suggest it, even the King’s mistress?

Indeed not. Ms Mary Davies was a twelve year old girl when she married the good Baronet and the daughter of a “scrivener” - a somewhat second grade lawyer. As the same Wikipedia article conveniently explains in a section copied from it on 12 February 2021 at 10:15am Tokyo time:

“...Grosvenor married in 1677; he was aged 21, and his wife, Mary Davies, was only 12 years old. The marriage was arranged by their families in a manner and at an age which was quite normal in England in that era; it proved to be harmonious and conventional…”

We think that the lady doth protest too much. This isn’t what the same Wikipedia article said about the good Baronet and his marriage to Mary Davies a couple of years ago when I last looked at it. Instead a rather fuller picture was given, such as contained in this article or more fully here. To quote:

Mary gave her husband Sir Grosvenor, three sons and after he died she inherited a lifetime’s interest in the estate which left her both incredibly wealthy and incredibly vulnerable. For reasons unknown, Mary fled to Paris in 1701 at the age of thirty-six and married a Roman Catholic, Edward Fenwick who was the brother of a rector who had lived with the family on the Grosvenor family estate.

Mary and Edward remained in Paris for the next four years while the Grosvenor family fought to have the marriage annulled on the grounds of their mother’s supposed “insanity”. They had the forty year old Mary committed to a Lunatic Asylum which was where rich families placed difficult and willful women in the 18th Century. We hear nothing more of Mary except that she eventually died alone in the lunatic asylum.

“Harmless and conventional” doesn’t quite seem to tell the whole story, and I know that the same Wikipedia article used to give a more complete picture of Mary’s life because I once quoted from it in a comment I posted to the Financial Times website under a story on the Grosvenor Estate.

Unfortunately I can’t provide a link to my comment as it was deleted within a few hours of its being posted, despite no obvious infringement of the FT’s moderation guidelines. Although I have no proof, I can only suspect the involvement of the dead hand of Grosvenor Estates’ public relations department who might, perhaps, also keep an eye on Wikipedia.

Who owns Britain? A good question, and it looks like there are people about who would have it that you still don’t know the answer.

*NOTE: I later found that the family of the Baronet claimed succession from Hugh Lupus, first Earl of Chester, and one of William the Conqueror's foremost knights, so the Duke of Westminster’s comment was rather more nuanced than I first thought. ...more

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Dec 13, 2019 Sophy H rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fabulous-favourites, outdoor-nature

I had been waiting to read this for some time, and in a telling manner, so has most of the general public (there has been a waiting list for reservation of this book from my local library for months!!)

As I already suspected before reading, the rich toffs with the money and the power and the influence own waayyy more land than they should!!! As Guy Shrubsole points out, since Norman the Conqueror started his fuckery back in 1066, the division and ownership of land has never been the same since. T ...more

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Nov 14, 2019 Andrew rated it it was amazing

An incredibly thorough and compelling account of how England's system of hereditary landownership and a landlord class is deeply inequitable (it's the same here in Ireland and many, many other nations). A must read for anyone buried under absurd rent or mortgage payments or anyone concerned about the environment. ...more

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Dec 18, 2020 Adam Deedman rated it really liked it

An interesting read, which sheds new light on the state of land in England and what needs to be done to bring rights and equality to all of us who live amongst this nations' rich and diverse landscape.

Some interesting topics are covered within this book and a comprehensive breakdown of how England is divided up is covered, from the new money plutocrats who have brought vast estates within the English countryside, to the waning public sector - a body who is supposed to exist for the benefit of us ...more

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Jul 09, 2020 Megan Harris rated it really liked it

Objectively 5 stars, subjectively 4 stars because I feel like to get the most out of this I need to go back through this and take a copious amount of notes

V interesting & relevant to my degree, esp land law

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May 26, 2019 Martin Empson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a really important book. Many on the left, from Karl Marx onward have sought to understand how capitalism developed and what this meant for the land and its people. But who came to own the land as a result of that process has profound consequences for people today. Guy Shrubsole's book is written with humour and anger and offers a viable alternative. It is an essential read and I highly recommend it.

My full review on the blog: http://resolutereader.blogspot.com/20... ...more

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Aug 27, 2019 Kate Vane rated it it was amazing

In Who Owns England, Guy Shrubsole describes how his campaigning interests – from environmental damage on agricultural land to housing shortages in London – led him to wonder who owns the land in England. Getting an answer proved difficult which made him all the more determined to pursue the subject. He and data journalist Anna Powell-Smith have detailed their research on the Who Owns England blog and he expands on the subject in this book.

He begins with the historical context and the Domesday B In Who Owns England, Guy Shrubsole describes how his campaigning interests – from environmental damage on agricultural land to housing shortages in London – led him to wonder who owns the land in England. Getting an answer proved difficult which made him all the more determined to pursue the subject. He and data journalist Anna Powell-Smith have detailed their research on the Who Owns England blog and he expands on the subject in this book.

He begins with the historical context and the Domesday Book, in which William the Conqueror compiled an inventory of the country he had conquered. Significant land holdings were giving to those who had helped him achieve power and their heirs.

Shrubsole estimates that 30% of all England’s land is still owned by the aristocracy and gentry. The 6th Duke of Westminster at least had the grace to admit that he hadn’t become Britain’s biggest landowner by the sweat of his brow. When asked what advice he would give to young entrepreneurs, the billionaire said, “Make sure they have an ancestor who was a very close friend of William the Conqueror”. When he died he passed his entire estate to his then 25-year-old son who is currently the subject of a campaign by activists.

Shrubsole’s analysis shows how land that has been taken over generations, by conquest, by forced enclosure, by repression, continues to be protected by complicit (or cowed) governments, and that, despite the public perception that the gentry has fallen into decay and handed it all over to the National Trust, many of them are doing very nicely.

Then there is publicly owned land, which could be used for the public good, but is being steadily sold off, either by a central government with an ideological agenda, or local authorities desperate for cash. There are the landownings of the royal family and the Crown and the church. There is land owned by wealthy individuals and corporations, including pension funds.

Land is a uniquely valuable asset. Shrubsole quotes Mark Twain: “they aren’t making it any more”. Landowners can also experience gains in value through the action of others — for example if new transport infrastructure is built nearby. However, these qualities are not recognised in the tax system. Instead, landowners receive additional benefits.

Many receive agricultural subsidies which are paid simply for owning land (including environmentally damaging grouse moors), with no obligation to benefit taxpayers or the environment. They can use trusts and offshore ownership arrangements to avoid taxation or scrutiny (sometimes while also receiving subsidies). Properties in high-demand areas such as central London are left empty, treated as ‘investments’, and complicated ownership arrangements mean they may be bought with laundered money.

There is an impressive amount of research and information in Who Owns England, presented in an accessible way. Shrubsole gives an insight into the work that he and others have done to unearth this knowledge, and explains what they have been unable to find out.

He brings the material alive with examples and anecdotes, beginning with his childhood memories of West Berkshire, an apparently affluent, leafy county, but one riven by divisions by the Greenham Common airbase, and the Newbury bypass. Both spurred iconic protests and both are, in a sense, about land and who owns and controls it. Newbury MP and former environment minister Richard Benyon is also a wealthy landowner.

It’s easy to despair but what I love about this book is that Shrubsole is angry but also positive and determined. His final chapter is an agenda for English land reform, a series of proposals to make land ownership more open, fair, and widely distributed.

Read more of my reviews on my blog katevane.com/blog ...more

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Jun 09, 2019 Herwin Tros rated it it was amazing

Shrubsole tells the story over ownership of Englands soil that was totally unknown to me. It gives a - by times - shocking insight in how the country functions (or dysfunctions if you will) on the terrain of housing, farming, roaming, etc. Also it gives insight in the inheritance of feudalism a mere 1000 years after William the Conqueror 'made' England. There hasn't been much change... Shrubsole gives hope en guidance, maybe a little too much in the way of a dreamer, but, maybe it is necessary t ...more

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Dec 28, 2020 Alex Keen rated it it was amazing

An essential read for those struggling to get on the housing ladder, frustrated by 'Private Land' signs whilst out walking and for those dismayed at the barren countryside paralysed as ecological deserts. This book perfectly explains how these situations have come to pass and how they are entwined with who owns land in the England. ...more

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Jun 15, 2020 Paul Holden rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

An extremely interesting, shocking and important book. Highlights the many injustices in land ownership.

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Oct 12, 2020 Jonathan Norton rated it liked it

Who do you think owns England's fields? Hedge funds. ...more

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May 25, 2020 The Book rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: england, non-fiction, 2020-best-of

Took me a few weeks to get through, but loved it. Eye-opener for me, keen to read more around this.

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Jul 13, 2019 Daniel Lambauer rated it really liked it

A good book that is an easy ready even though it took me longer to reas than I would have liked. Becomes a bit repetitive in parts, but has good thoughts on land reform and argues convincingly why this is such an urgent topic to tackle...

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May 14, 2019 Hannah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, netgalley, read-in-2019, social-history

Land reform is something I hadn't given much thought to before, but Guy Shrubsole really won me over with this book.

Guy's passion for the environment and social justice fuels this polemic; through each chapter he covers another type of land ownership, from the aristocracy, to the state, to the Anglican Church, to corporate entities. Until I read this book, I'd never considered how who owns land can affect climate change, biodiversity, economic inequality, the welfare state, or our own freedoms. ...more

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Sep 30, 2019 Simon Mcleish rated it liked it

As an analysis of land ownership in England, it delivers what the title promises. Driven by righteous anger at the exclusivity and secrecy of England's land ownership, it is passionate but can feel a bit like being hit repeatedly over the head with a blunt instrument. ...more

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Feb 05, 2021 Oliver Rogers rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: People wanting to know more about a policy issue and seeking context

Shelves: environmental-factual

This book makes for fascinating reading and explained very clearly some trends in land ownership I was unaware of (because it's pretty well kept secret from us!) and also the context of how the planning system was developed in the post-war period.

However, I can't help but feel that this 'egalitarian sense manual' (As I like to call it!) is ranged against conservative forces so grand and so huge, in England and the rest of the UK, as to be nigh impossible to achieve the level of change that it d This book makes for fascinating reading and explained very clearly some trends in land ownership I was unaware of (because it's pretty well kept secret from us!) and also the context of how the planning system was developed in the post-war period.

However, I can't help but feel that this 'egalitarian sense manual' (As I like to call it!) is ranged against conservative forces so grand and so huge, in England and the rest of the UK, as to be nigh impossible to achieve the level of change that it demands at the end.

Elegantly argued, this book does a good job of highlighting how any progress on land reform by the Liberals during the early 20th Century and Labour post-1945 was extraordinary and badly needed by the majority land-less population. It did gloss over what seemed like quite an important Victorian reform to bring in Death Duties and subsequently led to the break up of many large estates 50 years later. So, I'm saying Sir William Harcourt needed a mention at least and his radical 1894 budget could have done with some further examination - how did he carry such a radical policy through Parliament? Even David Lloyd-George's introduction of a land valuation tax is dealt with fairly briefly and I feel there is much there to understand - both radical policies introduced at a time when the mass electorate was small and a concentration of landing owning power in the House of Lords exercised by the hands of those who had the good fortune to be friends with William The Conqueror.

But perhaps that's the message: if we think change on land reform is hard now, it was even harder during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, but those reforming governments achieved huge strides through establishing the Land Registry at all.

I had not fully understood how inter-linked land ownership is to ingraining inequality within our modern society and (although I did want some reform before reading) I now totally support the cause of greater transparency in land ownership. Also, I had not appreciated how some large estates, such as the Church of England's land, might have been hopelessly mis-managed over the past century along with the privatisation of nearly 50% of the public County Farms and their land since the 1970s. Scandals that need proper consideration as land ownership is at the heart of solving the twin interlinked problems of housing and nature in this country. A sub-narrative of this book is that re-wilding offers a solution to some of these issues around wildlife and nature and it does allow the author to make a strong case for ending the use of uplands for grouse shooting.

My personal favourite section was the analysis of the creation of allotments as part of a response to enclosure and how this had been so radical a policy and could be again. I'm looking up that single 1969 Parliamentary committee investigation and report looking at allotments in the UK!

It's only now that I'm beginning to understand that lines on a map drawn by politicians do matter and whether it's Zimbabwe (colonial period and 1990s) or Partition-India or indeed any other country - who owns the land is the fundamental basic that influences where those lines go.

A good overview of the subject and written brightly to galvanize the reader into supporting action. I liked it very much, but then I'm a land-less person. ...more

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Sep 07, 2019 Willy Marz Thiessam rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: history, politics, political-economy, britain, england, geography

Great book. Its more of a discussion paper though rather than rough and refined statistics. Here are some notes I've added to his chart that can be found on page 267:

Crown - 1.4% - hard to gage the true extent as much of it is interspered with relatives, and personal ownership. Most environmental initiatives and legislation affecting land are controled to some extent through royal rights to the seabeds and to their rights to influence government policy that might affect their holdings. The crow Great book. Its more of a discussion paper though rather than rough and refined statistics. Here are some notes I've added to his chart that can be found on page 267:

Crown - 1.4% - hard to gage the true extent as much of it is interspered with relatives, and personal ownership. Most environmental initiatives and legislation affecting land are controled to some extent through royal rights to the seabeds and to their rights to influence government policy that might affect their holdings. The crowns small holding is in effect a central ordering, controlling and leadership of the wider aristocratic holdings. They speak on behalf of the larger aristocrats they are related to over land policy in England.

Aristocracy and Gentry - 30%. Due to the rights of primogeniture and that tens of thousands of "thanes" lost their land to a few hundred of William the Conquerors mates the land had been tightly consolodated for a thousand years. This in turn has been shared between powerful artistocratic families.

Conservation Charities - 2% - often have a controlling influence exerted by their biggest donnors which are usuall aristocrats using the conservation areas to enhance their own neighbouring properties.

Church - .5% - this is tied up with a long history where much may not be known or even controlled by the church itself.

Public Sector - 8.5% - local government owns a good deal but a great amount is controlled and used by the MOD which not only pollutes but also keeps so many secrets its own control over that land is guess work at best.

Companies & LLLPs (Uk and Overseas) - 18% - this is grouped into large holdings by Corporations that own a wide variety of industries and land. Much of it is taken up in speculation and is far from productive as far as it is known. Much of it is kept within interlocking and nested companies which ensure a lack of oversight by the government and the press.

New Money - 17% - This appears to have a lot of nefarious characters associeted with corrupt and brutally oppressive regimes. The oligarchs and members of middle east royal families take up the land partly as a place to escape to should things go south where they are from. While great objection is made to Syrian refugees very little is brought up in press of the vast amounts of land taken up by this or that prince who let the land and property lie mostly vacant.

Homeowners - 5% - this is the tens of millions who live in England.

Total - 82.4%
Unaccounted for - 17% (around) ...more

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Mar 04, 2020 Denise rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Who Owns England? is the result of some amazing investigative journalism on the part of Shrubsole et al.
The secrecy surrounding land ownership, particularly in England and Wales is fascinating. It is undoubtedly political. And it is useful to note which of our MPs are landowners and how they have voted on environmental and access issues 🤔 After Domesday Book in 1085 pretty much any attempt at identifying who owned what land has been thwarted by... the landowners themselves. What do they have to Who Owns England? is the result of some amazing investigative journalism on the part of Shrubsole et al.
The secrecy surrounding land ownership, particularly in England and Wales is fascinating. It is undoubtedly political. And it is useful to note which of our MPs are landowners and how they have voted on environmental and access issues 🤔 After Domesday Book in 1085 pretty much any attempt at identifying who owned what land has been thwarted by... the landowners themselves. What do they have to hide? Even now it is almost impossible to match acreage to map.
The crown and the church have historically been known to be two of the largest landowners but did you know that “the Crown Estate gets more rental income from Apple’s flagship store on Regent Street than it does from its entire agricultural estate”? 😮
The Church, on the other hand, has ‘lost’ around 90% of its lands:
“The mystery of who stole the Church’s land is a whodunnit worthy of a Brother Cadfael novel.” 😂😂 In 1873 the Church owned in excess of two million acres of ‘glebe lands’ (land set aside for the upkeep of the parish priest, e.g. farmland rented out to supplement the vicar’s income). By 1976 they had only 111,628 acres and it now stands at just 70,000 acres. It has been sold. In secret. Without scrutiny. 🤔
When the sixth Duke of Westminster was asked what advice he could give entrepreneurs in England he quipped:
“Make sure they have an ancestor who was a very close friend of William the Conqueror’s.”
Well, quite. When the Normans conquered England in 1066 four thousand Anglo-Saxon thegns were replaced by fewer than two hundred Norman barons and clergy. Twenty years later a dozen of the leading barons owned a quarter of the kingdom. Later, between 1604 - 1914 a fifth of England’s common (public) land was enclosed by acts of parliament. By 1873 half of England and Wales was owned by 0.01% of the population; some 4200 Victorian nobles and gentry. One hundred years later 3000 people still own around one third of the total land area. And we all know how land has increased in value, not to mention what lies beneath the land.
And then there are the newcomers, the oil sheikhs of the 70s, the Russian oligarchs of the 90s and the companies that ‘landbank’, knowing that they will eventually recoup their money several times over 😡
In short, this book is a real eye-opener. Recommended. ...more

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Sep 29, 2020 Dave Stone rated it really liked it

An entertaining read about a lot of things I didn't know I didn't know.
I'll be honest, I didn't completely get the question in the title when I started reading this book. "Who owns England?" that makes no sense. But it sounded interesting so I gave it a shot. The question makes more sense to me now and I get why it's important, and why Guy Shrubsole had to ask.
I'm an American, so many of the concepts in this book are foreign to me. I did not know that the government in England pays landowners ...more

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Feb 20, 2020 Jennifer rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2020, library-loan, non-fiction

As the librarian commented, I'd had to wait a long time to get hold of this. I understand why now - it deserves not to be rushed through (and the library didn't buy enough copies...a conspiracy theorist might have had something to say about certain aristocratic estates in these parts and their involvement in the political system)

I found it very readable, surprisingly so as it is rightly based on evidence ie facts, figures. I'm very impressed by the dedicated detective work that has gone into fin ...more

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Aug 13, 2020 Mackenzie Fletcher rated it it was amazing

Who Owns England? Is a fascinating exploration of land ownership in England, and occasionally Wales. You’d think the question of who owns what wouldn’t be all that difficult to answer, but no, England’s history of land ownership and land reform is likely one of the most convoluted in the world. Land ownership continues to be shrouded in secrecy, and despite its formation in 1861, HM’s Land Registry remains incomplete. This book recounts Shrubsole’s attempts to map the landowners of England as we ...more

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Aug 28, 2020 Sennen Rose rated it it was amazing

This book took me eight months to read for various reasons, and it has affected me deeply. I think when you grow up in the countryside in England, especially in a place as old as where I grew up, you sort of always have a vague knowledge of the way land shapes everything in this country, but I had never seen anything that said it so clearly and so precisely. I thought about loads of things while reading this - the Michael Morpurgo book Private Peaceful, my dad’s stories about scrumping and poach ...more

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Jan 14, 2021 Sonny Peart rated it liked it · review of another edition

Plenty to shock in this book, regarding the concentration of ownership of land of England in the hands of so few - individuals, corporations, off-shore trusts, etc. The National Parks we may think of as common land are in fact mostly privately owned. The proportion of land in England open to the public is tiny. Much of our country is fenced off from us. And remarkably, ultimate ownership of significant tracts of land is shrouded in mystery, and has been so for centuries. Meanwhile, ecosystems ar ...more

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Nov 20, 2020 Federico Marchisio rated it it was amazing

An important, necessary investigation into land ownership in England. Shrubsole goes to great lengths to overcome the anachronistic hurdles that maintain secrecy around how land concentrated in the hands of a few organisations and family names.

The realisation that in 2020 almost 50% of England is owned by less than 1% of the people who actually live here is infuriating. Even more so the fact that aristocracy, new rich and even shady corporations receive government subsidies via agricultural fun ...more

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Sep 23, 2020 Lesley Reeder rated it it was amazing

A couple of friends recommended this to me. I was curious when one of them stated 1% of the people in England own 50% of the land. Yes I sort of knew this and could even name some fo the larger landowners. But as I'm walking more in Covid times the more I saw Private Property - Keep Out, barbed wire, and heard the government were looking to make trespassing a criminal offence not just a civil offence the more I wanted to learn more.

The book is a superb, well researched expose of how land in the ...more

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About Guy Shrubsole

Guy Shrubsole

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Guy Shrubsole works as a campaigner for Friends of the Earth and has written for numerous publications including the Guardian and New Statesman. Who Owns England? (2019) is his first book.