Domesday Book 1086 coverage and contents

The Domesday Book of 1086 covered 40 counties in England.

Click here for its Wikipedia entry

• Total Records: the survey documented 13,418 settlements.
• Two Volumes:
  • Great Domesday: Covered most of the 40 shires (counties), overseen by an ealdorman or earl in a summarized format.
  • Little Domesday: Contained much more detailed, un-summarized records for three specific eastern counties: Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk.
• Missing Areas: The survey famously excluded certain northern and major urban regions, including London (capital city) and Winchester, County Durham in the north, and Northumberland (on Scotland's border). Some parts of Wales were included only if they were border areas controlled by English lords.

When did london town allow freehold sale of land

Freehold sale of land in London has been legally possible in some form since the late 13th century, though the system has evolved through several major legislative shifts to reach its modern form.

1. Medieval Origins (1290)

The Statute of Quia Emptores (1290) is the foundational law that allowed free men to sell or transfer their land to others. Prior to this, land was strictly controlled through "subinfeudation", somewhat like modern sub-letting, where new owners became sub-tenants of the seller rather than independent owners. This 1290 act allowed the absolute sale of a "fee simple" estate (the closest thing to modern ownership) by substituting one owner for another.

2. Early Modern Simplification (1535–1540) under King Henry VIII

• 1535: The Statute of Uses and subsequent laws introduced "Bargain and Sale," a simpler method of transferring land that removed the need for ancient, public ceremonies like "livery of seisin" (handing over a clod of earth).
• 1540: The Statute of Wills next allowed landowners to legally bequeath land in a will, further cementing the rights of freehold owners to dispose of property as they wished.

3. The 1925 Reform

The Law of Property Act 1925 Compulsory registration introduced. It abolished many confusing medieval "tenures" (like copyhold) and reduced legal ownership in England to just two main types freehold (absolute ownership) and leasehold (ownership for a fixed term)

Besides freehold & leasehold where does Crown Land fit in UK

Crown Land in 2026

In the UK property system, Crown Land is the legal foundation upon which all other land rights (freehold and leasehold) are built. While most people interact with land as either "owners" (freeholders) or "tenants" (leaseholders), the Crown occupies a unique position as the ultimate legal owner of all land in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

As of 2026, Crown Land fits into the UK property landscape in three primary ways:

1. The "Ultimate Owner" (Radical Title)

Under English law, no private person "owns" land in an absolute sense; instead, they own an "estate" in land.

• Radical Title: The Monarch holds the "underlying" or "radical" title to all land.
• Escheat: If a freehold property becomes truly ownerless—for example, if a company is dissolved or a person dies without heirs and without a will—the land "reverts" to the Crown through a process called escheat.
• Bona Vacantia: Other ownerless assets (like a dissolved company's lease) may also pass to the Crown as bona vacantia (vacant goods).

2. The Crown Estate (Public Holding)

The Crown Estate is a multi-billion pound portfolio of land and property held "in right of the Crown" for the duration of the Monarch's reign.

• Commercial Management: It is managed by an independent board (The Crown Estate Commissioners) and is neither the private property of the King nor government property.
• Revenue: All net profits go to the UK Treasury to benefit the nation's finances. In return, the Monarch receives the Sovereign Grant to fund official duties.
• Key Holdings: In 2026, this includes roughly half of the UK's foreshore, almost the entirety of the seabed out to 12 nautical miles (critical for offshore wind energy), and significant urban holdings like Regent Street in London.

3. Private and Governmental Holdings

"Crown Land" is often used loosely to describe three other categories that are legally distinct from The Crown Estate:

• Private Estates: Personal property of the Monarch, such as Sandringham and Balmoral.
• Duchies: The Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall, which provide private income to the Monarch and the Prince of Wales, respectively.
• Government Land: Land held by government departments (like the Ministry of Defence) for public service.

** End of Report

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