The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 2

The New Domesday Book

The New Domesday Book.

The

modern Domesday Book, as the Parliamentary

The New Domesday Book.

Return, giving the list and acreage of the Landowners of the United Kingdom, has been happily termed, enabled the country for the first time since the Domesday of the Conqueror, to form an estimate of the ownership and distribution of its landed property.

It may be safely stated then that the number of landowners of the United Kingdom is under 200,000. How then is the land divided among these owners?

A careful analysis has shown that 955 persons own between them 29,743,000 acres out of the 72,000,000 acres accounted for, exclusive of manors, woods, forests, property let on long lease, property within the metropolis, and house property generally; giving an average to each of nearly 30,000 acres, consisting of estates situate generally in two or more counties. A further analysis has shown that about 4,000 persons, in the next rank of landowners own between them about 20,000,000 acres, with an average of 5,000 acres each; that 10,000 persons own between 500 and 2000 acres, with an aggregate of 10,000,000 acres; that 50,000 persons own between 50 and 500 acres with an aggregate of 9,000,000 acres; and that 130,000 own between one acre and fifty acres with an aggregate of 1,750,000 acres. These figures however rather

The New Domesday Book.

understate than overstate the proportion of land held by large owners as compared with small owners. An addition should be made to the acreage of the former, in respect of woods and manors which are not accounted for in the return, and which probably amount to nearly 4,000,000 acres. Making an addition on this account, it may be safely said that 15,000 persons own between them 64,000,000 acres out of a total 761/3 millions; of the remainder about 1,500,000 acres are held in mortmain, by the Crown, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and other Church Corporations, the Universities, Public Schools, Hospitals and Charities.

It will be seen, however, from the above figures, that the distribution of land is very different in the three countries. In Scotland more than half the country consists of mountain and moor, of little agricultural value, and held in immense blocks. The remaining half is owned by a very small number of persons; peasant proprietors do not exist there. One person only out of every 400 owns land; and one in twenty-eight owns a house.

In England and Wales the number of owners of land is proportionally larger than in the other countries. There are parts of the country, such as Cumberland and Westmoreland, where the class of yeomen has not altogether died out. There are considerable numbers of owners of small properties in the neighbourhood of towns, which would be more properly classed as owners of villas. In Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire there are a certain number of owners of small holdings. With these exceptions there cannot be said to exist a class of yeomen farmers or of peasant proprietors. One person out of 130 is probably an owner of land, and, omitting London, one person in twenty-six is probably the owner of a house.

1 Including about 5,000 holdings bought by their tenants under the Bright clauses of the Church Disestablishment Act (1869) and the Irish Land Act (1870).