Legally The Monarch owns all land in UK; it’s a stunning and enormous property portfolio worth billions that the Monarch owns- and it ranges from lavish palaces to a disused reservoir near St Albans. However, The Monarch holds property in several ways.
There is private property belonging to the Queen herself (only two)
The land she/he owns in right of her Crown by “The Crown Estate”
But just what land does the Monarch actually own?
Contrary to what is believed, the Queen/ the King privately owns only 2 palaces… *Balmoral Castle & Sandringham House.
*That means that Her Majesty the Queen died peacefully at her home in Balmoral Castle on Thursday evening 8th of September 2022.which explains the importance of “home”. Rest in Piece M’dam….
The Crown Estate
The Crown Estate belongs to the reigning monarch during their reign. However, it is not their private property – it cannot be sold by the monarch, nor do revenues from it belong to The Monarch.
The Government also does not own The Crown Estate. It is managed by an independent organisation, with surplus revenue from the estate paid to the Treasury.
Everything else other than Balmoral Castle and Sandrimgham House is owned by the Crown Estate , including Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Windsor Castle…. Also, any other Royal Palaces and the Royal Parks are owned by the Crown, as is a large quantity of land known as the Crown Estate.
Land owned by The Crown Estate includes everything from a stretch of the M6 motorway in Lancashire and a rugby club in Norfolk to public toilets in central London and a retail park in South Tyneside.
Occupied Royal Palaces are maintained by the Royal Household Property Section, unoccupied palaces are the responsibility of Historic Royal Palaces, and the Royal Parks are managed by the Royal Parks charity on behalf of the Government.
The Land Registry publishes information about commercial owners of property, which includes information on land owned by the Crown Estate and the Duchy of Lancaster.
According to the Land Registry, these organisations own land in 217 out of 348 districts in England and Wales – a total of 7,936 plots.
The Crown Estate owns around half of the UK’s foreshore (the bit of land exposed between high tide and low tide), some substantial areas of coastline and virtually all the UK’s seabed from average low tide to the 12 nautical mile limit.
It also owns mineral rights across around 115,000 hectares where it does not own the surface land. Naturally occurring gold and silver in the UK, collectively known as “Mines Royal”, are managed by the Crown Estate.
So what does the Crown own across the UK?
East of England
Anmer Hall on the grounds of the Sandringham estate in Norfolk
Sandringham House, in Norfolk, along with Anmer House in the grounds, is the Queen’s property. She inherited it from her father.
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 408 plots in the East of England – a combination of agricultural land, and foreshore and beds along rivers such as the Great Ouse, Nene, Stour, and Waveney, as well as foreshore and seabeds along the coast, such as at Great Yarmouth.
Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:
Cambridge Business Park
Thetford Golf Club and South Bedfordshire Golf Club
Thetford Rugby Club
White Lodge Business Park in Norwich
A disused reservoir on the east side of the M1 motorway, near St Albans
Burnham Yacht Harbour
Plots in Harlow Business Park
Queensgate Centre retail park, Harlow
East Midlands
The Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 530 plots in the East Midlands, including mineral rights, mostly in Northamptonshire, agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Trent, and on the coast in places like Skegness.
Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:
The Higham Ferrers Campus of Moulton College in East Northamptonshire
Henry Chichele Primary School in East Northamptonshire
Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre
Victoria Retail Park in Netherfield
Fosse Park, Leicester
London
The Queen inside the White Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace before Christmas
London is home to a number of Royal Palaces owned by the Crown. Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, and St James’ Palace are all maintained by the Royal Household Property Section.
Historic Royal Palaces manages the Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, Kew Palace, and Banqueting House.
Kensington Palace is managed by both, depending on whether areas are private or open to the public.
The Royal Parks are also all in London: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Richmond Park, Bushy Park, St James’s Park, The Green Park, The Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, Greenwich Park, Brompton Cemetery, Victoria Tower Gardens, and Grosvenor Square Garden.
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 571 plots in London and this includes:
The whole of Regent Street (including the public toilets)
The Queen owns Regent Street in London
The St James’ neighbourhood – the area bounded St James’s Palace, The Ritz, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square – which includes Pall Mall
Properties on the Strand, Piccadilly, Oxford Street, and Knightsbridge
Charing Cross Hospital
Theatre Royal, Haymarket and Her Majesty’s Theatre
The site of a pub called The Crown in Richmond
Kensington Palace in west London
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Mottingham Ambulance Station
Canada House, New Zealand House, and South Africa House (where the countries’ respective High Commissions are based)
Kensington Palace Gardens – home to the French, Israeli, Russian and Nepalese embassies – including the police watchboxes at either end
55 Whitehall – home to the Department of International Trade and some really nice views (it features in Skyfall and it is the roof Sherlock falls from in the BBC series)
Marble Arch and Park Lane
The Civil Service Sports Ground in Greenwich
St. Thomas More RC School in Eltham
London Business School
Primrose Hill in Camden
The Carlton Club in St James’s Street
The Ritz Hotel Garden and The Strand Palace Hotel
White Lodge in Richmond, home of the Royal Ballet School
North East
Silverlink Shopping Park in North Tyneside
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 111 plots in the North East, including almost all foreshore and beds of rivers, including the Tees, Trent, and Tweed.
It also owns:
Tynemouth Army Reserve Centre, North Shields
The Gate, Newcastle
Silverlink Shopping Park, South Tyneside
North West
The Inn at Whitewell in Clitheroe, Lancs
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 1,183 plots in the North West, including mineral rights and rights to gold and silver, mostly in Cheshire, agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Mersey, and on the coast in places like Morecambe Bay.
Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:
Altrincham Retail Park
Barthomley Service Station in Crewe
Cheshire Military Museum
Chester Castle
Part of the M6 and the Motorway Service area near Bay Horse, Lancaster
Oldham County Court
Public Conveniences, Dunsop Bridge, Clitheroe
Racecourse Retail Park, Aintree
Lancaster Castle
The Inn at Whitewell, Clitheroe
Vale Royal Abbey Arms Hotel
Coliseum Shopping Park, Ellesmere Port
South East
The Queen owns the Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire
The South East is home to Windsor Castle, which is owned by the Crown and maintained by the Royal Household Property Section. Windsor Great Park is owned by the Crown Estate.
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 489 plots in the South East, including agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Ouse, Medway, and on the coast in places like Southampton and Portsmouth.
Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:
John Lewis Distribution Centre, Milton Keynes
Danes Hill Preparatory School, Leatherhead
Parts of the High Street in Windsor
Ascot Racecourse and Ascot United Football Club
Datchet Golf Club and Osborne Golf Course, East Cowes
Old Windsor Working Men’s Club
INSIDE QUEEN’S ROYAL RESIDENCE WINDSOR CASTLE
MK1 Shopping & Leisure Park, Milton Keynes
South Aylesford Retail Park
Queensmead School Windsor
The Prince Of Wales pub in East Cowes
Banbury Gateway Shopping Park
The Harte and Garter Hotel, Windsor
South Aylesford Retail Park, Maidstone
Westgate Shopping Centre, Oxford
Ocean Retail Park, Portsmouth
South West
St Briavels Castle in Gloucestershire
Gatcombe Park in Gloucestershire is the Queen’s property. She bought it in 1976 for Princess Anne, who still lives there.
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 537 plots in the South West, including agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Avon and Exe, and on the coast in places like Poole Harbour.
Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:
Gallagher Shopping Park, Cheltenham
The Lobster Pot restaurant, Portland Bill
The Royal Citadel, Plymouth
Princesshay Shopping Centre, Exeter
St Briavels Castle
The Tile Factory, Marlborough
West Midlands
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 253 plots in the West Midlands, including mineral rights, including gold and silver, mostly in East Staffordshire and agricultural land.
Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:
Crowngate Shopping Centre, Worcester
RAF Fauld
Tatenhill Airfield
Tutbury Castle and House
Yorkshire and the Humber
Scarborough Castle
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 2,622 plots in Yorkshire and the Humber, including mineral and mining rights and rights to gold and silver, mostly in North Yorkshire, agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Hull, Ouse, and Trent, and on the coast in places like Bridlington and Robin Hood’s Bay..
Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:
The Blacksmith’s Arms Inn, Cloughton
Crown Point Shopping Park, Leeds
Scarborough Castle
Spa Tennis Club, Harrogate
Yorkshire Water’s Treatment Works in Scarborough
Wales
Tintern Abbey
The Crown Estate and Duchy of Lancaster owns 1,232 plots in Wales, mostly mineral rights, slate mining rights and rights to gold and silver, agricultural land, and foreshore and beds of rivers including the Taff, and on the coast in places like Milford Haven.
Among the properties owned by the Crown Estate are:
Tintern Abbey
Wildfowl and Wetland Centre, near Llanelli
Land Registry data isn’t available for Northern Ireland and Scotland, however, there is still other information about properties owned by the Crown.
Scotland
The Queen with husband Duke of Edinburgh and children Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Princess Anne at Balmoral Castle in 1972
Balmoral Castle, in Aberdeenshire, along with the properties in the grounds, is the Queen’s property. She inherited it from her father.
Scotland is also home to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, which is owned by Crown Estate Scotland, and maintained by the Conservation Directorate of Historic Scotland, part of the Scottish Government.
The Crown Estate Scotland owns 39-41 George Street, Edinburgh, as well as 37,000 hectares of rural land and around half of the foreshore and most of the seabed out to the 12 nautical mile limit.
It also owns the rights to fish for salmon in some parts of Scotland.
Northern Ireland
Hillsborough Castle is managed by Historic Royal Palaces.
I hope this post is useful to you. Please do let me know if you have anything to add, and I will gladly consider it and add to the article if it helps my readers and don’t forget, if you need further advice/assistance or would like to reach out you can find my contact details below.
I hope this post is useful to you. Please do let me know if you have anything to add, and I will gladly consider it and add to the article if it helps my readers and don’t forget, if you need further advice/assistance or would like to reach out you can find my contact details below.
Josephine – Your Trusted London Property Partner
Tel : +44 (0) 7491 430055
email: josephine@josephinedayan.com