Headline Figures:
After four years, Who Owns Norfolk has concluded its land ownership mapping activities, having mapped the owners of 70% of the West Norfolk local government.
50% of West Norfolk is owned by approximately 0.2% of its population.
27 aristocrats (including members of the gentry; WON's definition for the aristocracy is available online here) still own 25% of West Norfolk.
On average, the surviving aristocratic estates have remained in the same family's ownership for the last 251 years (where data is available) - in other words, since 1773 - three years before the USA became a country.
On average, the aristocratic estates of West Norfolk are worth over GBP 30 million each.
Since the 80s/90s, two Italian counts and the German heir to a cigarette fortune have gone on an astonishing land acquisition spree; these three individuals now own 1/20th of West Norfolk between them.
One estate in West Norfolk has been owned by the same family for over 900 years, since the time of William the Conqueror - the Le Strange Estate, Hunstanton.
The West Norfolk Landownership map (updated until 31st December 2019 only):
Article & Commentary
Who Owns Norfolk's (WON) research has now mapped the ownership of 70% of the King's Lynn and West Norfolk local government district. The majority of the district's significant landowners are now included on the map (see above); the remaining 30% would be difficult to map using publicly available information and would likely require the spending of thousands of pounds on the UK Land Registry.
WON has also mapped a number of landowners in Norfolk beyond West Norfolk. All data is accessible in a publicly available Google Sheet. If you would like to take on research for other parts of Norfolk, please contact us at who.owns.norfolk@gmail.com.
While incomplete, the 70% figure for West Norfolk provides us with a good level of detail into landownership patterns in the district that can be compared against recent and historical research at the national level. We can also make some reasonably confident presumptions regarding who owns the remaining 30%.
This effort concludes WON's ownership research after more than four years; in the future the group will focus on mapping all the natural and conservation areas in the county via Rewilding Norfolk.
So, who actually owns West Norfolk? WON's research indicates the following make up (note these figures are derived from this publicly available Google Sheet):
Landowner Category / Social Group (Definitions Available Here) | % of West Norfolk (Confirmed) | % of West Norfolk (Estimated Total) |
Modern International Super Rich | 4.7 | 6 |
New British Money | 3 | 5 |
Modern Gentry / Peerage | 0.9 | 1 |
Aristocracy (Gentry and Peerage) | 24 | 25 |
Farmers | 19.4 | 38 |
Government | 4 | 5 |
Crown Estate | 7 | 7 |
Charity/NGO | 2 | 3 |
Institutional (e.g., Church, Universities) | 0.5 | 1 |
Corporate/Investor | 3.3 | 7 |
Urban/Residential | 1.5 | 2 |
Breakdown of West Norfolk Landownership (Estimated):
Holkham Hall, arguably Norfolk's grandest country manor home and owned by Norfolk's largest private landowner: Thomas Coke, the 8th Earl of Leicester.
Who are the largest landowners in West Norfolk?
Landowner | Ownership, acres (in West Norfolk only) | Landowner Category (Definitions Available Here) |
Crown Estate | 26,000 | Archaic institution (government run though technically owned by King Charles who receives 12% of its profits) |
King Charles, via Sandringham Estate | 20,000 | Aristocracy (WON definition of aristocracy available online) |
Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester, via Holkham Estate | 10,200 | Aristocracy |
Norfolk County Council | 9,000 | Government |
The Birkbeck family, via West Acre Estate | 8,900 | Aristocracy (founders of Barclays) |
South Yorkshire Pension Authority | 8,800 | Government |
Bernhard Reemtsma, German heir to the vast Reemtsma cigarette fortune via Eaubrink Farms | 8,400 | Modern German Super Rich |
Count Luca Padulli, Italian count and hedge fund manager, via Albanwise Ltd | 6,400 | Modern Italian Super Rich |
Michael Meakin (Le Strange) via the Le Strange Estate, Hunstanton | 6,200 | Aristocracy (ancient gentry) |
Mark Irving Robinson, a farmer who owns a number of farms in north west Norfolk, including the previous Docking Manor Estate | 5,000 | Farmer (who first bought land in West Norfolk in the 1980s) |
How much are West Norfolk's landowners worth?
Category | Total Category Landowner-ship (Acres) | No. Category Landowners | Average Ownership (Acres) | Average Landholding Valuation* (GBP) |
International Super Rich | 29,913 | 3 | 9,971 | 101 million |
Aristocracy | 91,159 | 27 | 3,376 | 34 million |
Farmers | 67,633 | 61 | 1,109 | 11 million |
*Note: average valuations assume Norfolk farmland is worth GBP 10,158 per acre as per 2024 research from Brown&Co (source).
Remarkably, the table above indicates that the average aristocratic estate in West Norfolk is worth GBP 34 million (and this excludes the land owned elsewhere in the UK by these aristocrats, of which there is a lot).
Where West Norfolk farmers have managed to buy land, some now enjoy high levels of capital wealth, averaging GBP 11 million. However, this figure excludes the large numbers of West Norfolk farmers who own less land than this, or own no land at all. It also excludes any debt these landowning farmers may have accrued.
Unsurprisingly, the International Super Rich own Norfolk land that is worth an astonishing amount. Count Luca Padulli (an Italian count), Francesco Baggi Sisini (the nephew of an Italian count) and Bernhard Reemtsma (the heir to the German Reemtsma cigarette fortune*) own a total of 29,913 acres between them; on average, their landholdings are worth just over GBP 100 million each.
*Note: the Reemtsma company has a 'dark shadow' and purportedly funded the Nazis and utilized forced labour during World War II; that being said, it also apparently funded its Jewish business partners and employees to emigrate from Nazi Germany (source).
How does this compare to other recent land inequality research?
Who Owns England, the 2019 project led by Guy Shrubsole, estimated that 50% of England is owned by 1% of the population. The figures for West Norfolk (50% of the district is owned by just 0.2% of the population) are even more stark and suggest that either a) West Norfolk is an area of highly pronounced land inequality or b) perhaps the national figures underestimate land inequality.
The former is the more likely conclusion - West Norfolk is home to some of the largest remaining aristocratic estates in southern England, e.g., the 20,000 Sandringham Estate, the western half of the 25,000 acre Holkham Estate plus more than 20 others such as West Acre Estate, the Le Strange Estate and Houghton Estate (owned by the Marquess of Cholmondeley).
A view from the steps of Houghton Hall, the centre of a large West Norfolk estate
How does this compare to historic land inequality research?
Before Who Owns England, the most recent significant official effort to quantify landownership in England was the 1873 Return of Owners of Land, which found that 4,000 lords and gentry owned half of England (source). Government figures indicate the population of England and Wales was 22 million (source). These figures together indicate that in 1873 0.01% of the population owned 50% of England. So, we can conclude the picture for landownership inequality in West Norfolk today represents a marginal though hardly impressive improvement on the English status quo in 1873.
Bucolic scenes at a rewilding project on one of Norfolk's largest aristocratic estates (taken in 2022).
Is land concentration in Norfolk always a bad thing?
The objective of WON's research has been to provide information on landownership patterns rather than to take a rigid political position (though given the ongoing biodiversity and climate crises and the costs scientists predict these will impose on British society, it does seem logical and beneficial that large landowners should be encouraged or compelled to provide public goods that help to solve these issues, e.g., growing woodland, rewilding marginal land, deploying regenerative agriculture, etc.).
Research indicates that concentrated landownership has a range of negative effects on society; for example, land is now so expensive that farmers without land face incredibly high hurdles to buy their own land for farming. Estates that own large numbers of houses decrease the supply of housing for others to buy and therefore increase prices. However, to provide some balance, there are some arguments in favour of Norfolk's large estates. A small number of the larger Norfolk landowners have launched ambitious nature conservation or rewilding schemes (see Rewilding Norfolk). Some of Norfolk's most charming villages that have avoided increased development are estate villages. Perhaps these factors are linked.
That being said, few would argue that a legal framework which allows billionaires to buy up vast swathes of England without redress to the associated negative effects is a good thing.
This debate is healthy but also important and should be continued by society and policymakers.
Final Thoughts
Who Owns Norfolk represents the first time since 1873 that thorough research into landownership in Norfolk has been conducted. A lot of England's (and Britain's) history is wrapped up among Norfolk's landowners and it has been a fascinating and educating journey. It is clear from this project that a very small number of landowners control (within the legal and regulatory frameworks of England) many aspects of local residents' natural environment, including access to nature and the degree and type of nature conservation pursued. Is this best for our society?
Norfolk-based research focused on nature will continue via the Rewilding Norfolk map.
Appendix
More Detailed Figures:
Landowner Category (Definitions Available Here) | Number of Landowners | % of West Norfolk (Confirmed as of September 2024) |
Modern International Super Rich | 3 | 5% |
New British Money | 11 | 2% |
Modern Peerage / Gentry | 5 | 1% |
Late Gentry | 3 | 2% |
Aristocracy - Middle Gentry | 5 | 4% |
Aristocracy - Old Peerage / Gentry | 19 | 18% |
Farmers | 71 | 19% |
Government | 8 | 4% |
Crown Estate | 1 | 7% |
Charity/NGO | 7 | 2% |
Institutional (e.g., Church, Universities) | 3 | 0.5% |
Corporate/Investors | 6 | 3% |
Urban/Residential Areas | N/A | 1.5% |
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