Row over ownership of Norfolk's Burnham Overy Staithe

But the picturesque marshes of Burnham Overy Staithe, near Brancaster, are at the centre of an extraordinary legal battle which has pitted villagers against the might of the local aristocracy.

The dispute relates to the ownership of a large swathe of land, starting at the staithe and bordering the creeks and the River Burn as they head out towards the sea.

Locals claim that almost 3,300 acres of land near the staithe - including half of nearby Scolt Head Island and 77 acres of Overy marshes, stretching to Holklham beach  - are common land.

But they say the Earl of Leicester, of nearby Holkham Hall, has unfairly claimed the part of the area as his own and that the land is being wrongly treated as private property, with boaters charged for moorings and launchings on the popular waterways.

Fees for both are claimed by the Burnham Overy Harbour Trust, which leases the land from the Holkham estate.

This, say some locals, is the problem.

Burnham Overy Staithe (Image: Mike Page)

The eighth Earl of Leicester, Thomas Coke - an elected hereditary peer in the House of Lords, who was the Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II - insists the land is lawfully part of his estate.

In recent weeks, the dispute has been centre stage at Norwich Magistrates' Court, as locals took their fight there.

That battle ended in defeat for the villagers, as a tribunal panel ruled against them. But they have vowed to continue.

It is the latest twist in a saga which stretches back centuries.

SECOND HOME PLAYGROUND

With average house prices of £1 million, the surrounding area has been dubbed Chelsea-on-Sea due to the growing number of Londoners using it as their second home playground.

The staithe itself is one of the most accessible places to launch boats and the river offers many moorings - one of the sources of frustration of the Scolt Head and District Common Rights Holders’ Association.  

Burnham Overy Staithe (Image: Lorraine Clayton)

18TH CENTURY ROOTS 

The group was formed in 1984 and ever since has been arguing that the land belongs to Burnham Overy Parish Council under historic Enclosure Acts dating back to the 18th century, when legislation was passed to create property rights for land that was previously common.

However, the villagers say the Earl unlawfully registered the land to the Holkham estate in 2012 – leasing it to the Burnham Overy Harbour Trust ever since.

They claim the Trust, which now manages the harbour and creek, is wrongly charging people for moorings and license fees to launch boats.

Rod Cooke, secretary of the Scolt Head and District Common Rights Holders Association, accused the Holkham estate and Trust of “usurping from property that doesn’t belong to them”.

Rod Cooke, secretary of the Scolt Head and District Common Rights Holders Association (Image: Rod Cooke)

“Common land has been taken from us and is being used as private property,” he said.

“There’s not supposed to be any commercialisation of common land and they shouldn’t be profiting from it.

“What they’ve done is unlawful and there’s no way common rights holders can get justice.

“You can’t have a group of individuals coming over and using common land for their own private purpose without consulting with rights holders who manage the common.

“We’re perfectly happy to manage the common with everyone, but the Earl of Leicester, who calls himself the landowner, and the Trust won’t talk to us at all.

“They don’t believe we have any role in the management of the land we own.”

Burnham Overy Staithe (Image: Matthew Usher)

WHAT HOLKHAM SAYS

However, the Holkham estate says it successfully registered ownership of an island in Burnham Overy harbour, traditionally called the 77 Acres, with HM Land Registry in the years between 2009 and 2015.

It denies any ownership of the Scolt Head Island nature reserve, which it says lies with the National Trust and with Natural England.

Peter Mitchell, managing director of the estate, said: "Ownership of the 77 Acres was challenged some four or five years after it was registered.

"Holkham looked back into the estate records and agreed at the time the possibility that the ownership of the 77 Acres may not have been legitimately held by the previous owner, who sold a large block of land around the Burnhams to the Holkham estate in 1922.

"If that counter argument were shown to be true, ownership would most likely have tracked from its status as unenclosed land into ownership by the parish council or the district council."

The estate says that it has worked closely with the parish council over the last few years and that the authority came to the conclusion that they "neither needed to, nor wanted to, take on ownership".

"The Holkham estate therefore decided at that time that it should not transfer ownership to the parish council, but instead continue to take responsibility to manage this important area of natural habitat," Mr Mitchell said.

"Quite separately, there is a lease from Holkham estate to Burnham Overy Harbour Trust for the creeks at Overy.  The Harbour Trust was set up in 1982 to create a charitable organisation with participation from a cross-section of users of the harbour to care for and manage the creeks and to promote safe use.

"The 77 Acres are not included in the lease."

THE LATEST COURT BATTLE 

The Scolt Head and District Common Rights Holders Association has reported the Burnham Overy Harbour Trust to the Charity Commission since the 1990s.

However, in 2019 the Commission said it was not going to take any action over the complaints.

Mr Cooke claimed the regulator was not carrying out its duty, insisting that Burnham Overy Staithe is protected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and the Commons Act 2006 – laws which make provision about public access to the countryside and common land.

He said both had been “unlawfully contravened by the Commission and Trust”.

Mr Cooke submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Commission asking for correspondence between the regulator and the Trust.

However, it withheld some information, arguing that if it was to disclose correspondence from trustees public confidence in charities could be lost through fear of consequences.

Mr Cooke appealed, but it was this case that was dismissed at a tribunal at Norwich Magistrates’ Court in recent weeks.

“We could take the Trust to court for trespassing on common land, but when you’re dealing with organisations with thousands of pounds we simply can’t take them on because we don’t have that sort of funding,” Mr Cooke said.

“There’s a terrible sense of injustice.

“My plea to the judge on the day was we need to get justice with the information being withheld as there’s evidence we need to get hold of.

"We’ve just got to keep going and try our best to get justice within the system as it is."

Brancaster (Image: Mike Page)

BRANCASTER

The Scolt Head and District Common Rights Holders’ Association also want to reassert their claim to 900 acres of land in Brancaster, which covers the marshes, Royal West Norfolk Golf Club, and Brancaster Harbour. 

Since the 1960s, the golf club has built a links course, a car park and a number of buildings on the common, with the National Trust also building beach huts - all of which association members say are there illegally.

However, this claim is disputed by the club and the trust.

The association says it should share an income from a car park and beach huts on the common, and the golf club should pay the group compensation for using the land.

They say the money would go towards preserving the land as a common, so the public could continue to have free access to it.