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Guy Shrubsole

Who Owns England? Hardcover – May 2, 2019

by Guy Shrubsole (Author)

386 ratings

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‘Formidable work’ Robert Macfarlane

Who owns England?

Behind this simple question lies this country’s oldest and darkest secret. This is the history of how England’s elite came to own our land – from aristocrats and the church to businessmen and corporations – and an inspiring manifesto for how we can take control back.

This book has been a long time coming. Since 1086, in fact. For centuries, England’s Establishment have been able to cover up how they got their hands on millions of acres of common land, by building walls, burying surveys and more recently, sheltering behind offshore shell companies. But with the dawn of digital mapping and the Freedom of Information Act, they can no longer hide.

Trespassing through country estates and empty Mayfair mansions, writer and activist Guy Shrubsole has used these 21st Century tools to uncover a wealth of never-before-seen information about the people who own our land, in order to create the most comprehensive map of land ownership in England that has ever been made public.

From the Duke who owns the most expensive location on the Monopoly board to the MP who’s the biggest landowner in his county, he unearths truths concealed since the Domesday Book about who is really in charge of this country – at a time when Brexit is meant to be returning sovereignty to the people.

It’s time to expose the truth about who owns England – and finally take back our green and pleasant land.

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

William Collins
Publication date

May 2, 2019
Dimensions

6.26 x 1.42 x 9.45 inches
ISBN-10

0008321671
ISBN-13

978-0008321673
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Collins (May 2, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0008321671
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0008321673
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.34 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.26 x 1.42 x 9.45 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,547,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #110 in Land Use Law (Books)
- #1,412 in Urban & Land Use Planning (Books)
- #1,741 in Environmental Policy

Customer Reviews:
386 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		67%
4 star		22%
3 star		6%
2 star		4%
1 star		1%

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Interesting, informative but turns into a polemic !

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2020

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In Guy Shrubsole's "Who Owns England?" that question and its answer become a whine after half of the book is read. Indeed, the reader who is interested in English land laws and the identity of its owners will find a wealth of revealing information, e.g., the opacity of land title information, the monarchy's and aristocracy's ownership of huge swaths of urban (i.e., central London) and rural land along with the history of the Church of England's ownership of land and the identify of new and old titled land owners and aristocrats is very informative and revealing. Halfway through the book, it becomes a polemic, overwhelming the reader with second guessing of all aspects of governmental and private land management which may interest segments of the British public but has little interest for this American reader who though he likes to "roam" English country lanes and fields does not need to dwell on all its political nuances. The author, a fine writer, is a tireless and authoritative researcher and the book is chocked with photographs and land data.

One person found this helpful

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Kate Vane

Get angry, get inspired

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2019

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.

7 people found this helpful

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Peter

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2019

A must listen or read.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Fraidy Cat

Mixed feelings, over all very interesting if you can get past the whining political slant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2019

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The content of the book was generally great and well researched, however what really started to get on my wick was the constant whining which basically translated to socialist = good vs Tory = scum. Not to mention the current obligatory brexit rant.
I was fully expecting the word “fatcher” to pop up somewhere.

This is a shame, as it was, and still is generally a very interesting book and genuinely worth reading, but in several areas seemed to twist the otherwise well researched facts into criticism of the Tory government.

In a way you will learn a lot about the ownership of land in the UK, with added bonus of seeing how the lefty mind works.

Overall worth reading.

69 people found this helpful

AndrewRT

A wealth of insight

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 10, 2019

Verified Purchase

From the description, I was expecting to learn a lot of insights about who really owns England - and in that respect it didn't disappoint. Notwithstanding the limitations of data availability, this book is packed full of titbits and insights. Guy is a talented author, with a real eye for anecdote. When he is at his most descriptive, this book is highly readable, enjoyable and persuasive.

It is when he diverts into the more activist approach that the book lets itself down. The arguments are often thin and contradictory. The state is wrong to acquire and wrong also to sell it. He claims the church sold its glebe land due to "greed", with no evidence to back that up. Perhaps they were just making ends meet? At its core, his answer to "who owns England" is "other people". And by othering them, the criticisms come easy and unchallenged, even if they are often unfair. He ends with ten proposals for land reform; but they are more like twenty proposals, grouped together behind ten slogans. There is little critical consideration of these proposals - whether they would be effective, deliverable, to say nothing of any pros and cons.

Despite this, I would definitely recommend this book. I have come away with my mind opened, more knowledgeable and armed with some practical proposals for improving our land in England.

44 people found this helpful

Nick

Very interesting revelations BUT

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2019

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This is a very well researched book and reveals lots of genuinely interesting facts that most people would not know and would probably like to know. But unfortunately, it contains a very considerable degree of bare political bias. That is a great shame as it would have been a much better read and much more impactful if the political bias had been excluded or at least significantly reduced. As is often the case, less would have been more.

35 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Years of research into the mysterious land ownership of England

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2019

Verified Purchase

Who owns and manages the English landscape is a crucial issue in this climate changing time of crisis. How did they come to own it? How were the people of England robbed of its common use and how do the 'caretakers' actually look after our interests. Exploitation and deforestation of the land by invasion and heritage anomalies means most of the land in England is useless for most of the population. A tiny few own most of it. Privileged wealth and foreign speculation is rapidly eating up land and housing. Shockingly revealed in this excellently researched book.

36 people found this helpful

Psychopomp

BRILLIANT

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

WANT TO SEE A CAN OF WORMS BEING OPENED? BUY THIS BOOK AND SEE HOW MUCH HAS BEEN HIDDEN FROM US AND IS STILL BEING HIDDEN FROM US BY ANY GOVERNMENT IN POWER. EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK IF YOU CARE ABOUT OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY. OWNERSHIP OF LAND OPENS DOORS AND LEADS TO FINANCIAL BENEFITS, ALL OF WHICH ANY GOVERNMENT, THATS ANY GOVERNMENT PREFERS TO KEEP WELL AWAY FROM THE PUBLIC GAZE. A BRILLIANT BOOK THAT WILL OPEN YOUR EYES.

31 people found this helpful

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