Crown Estate

Crown land in England and Wales

The history of the Crown lands in England and Wales begins with the Norman Conquest in 1066.^[18] When William I died, the land he had acquired by right of conquest was still largely intact.^[19] His successors granted large estates to the nobles and barons who supplied them with men and arms.^[20] The monarch's remaining land was divided into royal manors, each managed separately by a seneschal. The period between the reigns of William I and Queen Anne was one of continuous alienation of lands.^[21]

The Crown lands were augmented as well as depleted over the centuries: Edward I extended his possessions into Wales, and James VI & I had his own Crown lands in Scotland which were ultimately combined with the Crown lands of England and Wales.^[22] The disposals outweighed the acquisitions: at the time of the Restoration in 1660, the total revenue arising from Crown lands was estimated to be £263,598 (equal to £42,102,836 today).^[23] By the end of the reign of William III (1689–1702) it was reduced to some £6,000 (equal to £1,045,241 today).^[24]

Before the reign of William III all the revenues of the kingdom were bestowed on the monarch for the general expenses of government. These revenues were of two kinds:^[25]

• the hereditary revenues, derived principally from the Crown lands, feudal rights (commuted for the hereditary excise duties in 1660), profits of the post office, with licences, etc.
• the temporary revenues derived from taxes granted to the king for a term of years or for life.

After the Glorious Revolution, Parliament retained under its own control the greater part of the temporary revenues, and relieved the sovereign of the cost of the naval and military services and the burden of the national debt. During the reigns of William III, Anne, George I and George II the sovereign remained responsible for the maintenance of the civil government and for the support of the royal household and dignity, being allowed for these purposes the hereditary revenues and certain taxes.^[25]

As the state machinery expanded, the cost of the civil government exceeded the income from the Crown lands and feudal rights; this created a personal debt for the monarch.

On George III's accession he surrendered the income from the Crown lands to Parliament, and abrogated responsibility for the cost of the civil government and the clearance of associated debts. As a result, and to avoid pecuniary embarrassment, he was granted a fixed civil list payment and the income retained from the Duchy of Lancaster.^[26] The King surrendered to parliamentary control the hereditary excise duties, post office revenues, and "the small branches" of hereditary revenue including rents of the Crown lands in England (which amounted to about £11,000, or £1,769,392 today), and was granted a civil list annuity of £800,000 (equal to £128,683,019 today) for the support of his household, subject to the payment of certain annuities to members of the royal family.^[26]

Although the King had retained large hereditary revenues, his income proved insufficient for his charged expenses because he used the privilege to reward supporters with bribes and gifts.^[27] Debts amounting to over £3 million (equal to £255,119,701 today) over the course of George's reign were paid by Parliament, and the civil list annuity was then increased from time to time.^[28]

Every succeeding sovereign down to and including Charles III renewed the arrangement made between George III and Parliament.^[29] By the 19th century the practice was recognised as "an integral part of the Constitution [which] would be difficult to abandon".^[25][30] Nevertheless, a review of funding arrangements for the monarchy led to the passage of the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, which according to HM Treasury, is:^[31]

A new consolidated grant rounding together the Civil List, Royal Palaces and Royal Travel grants-in-aid. It is intended that future funding will be set as a fraction of The Crown Estate revenue and paid through the annual Treasury Estimates process, and subject to full National Audit Office audit....

The Grant is to enable The Queen to discharge her duties as Head of State. i.e. it meets the central staff costs and running expenses of Her Majesty's official Household – such things as official receptions, investitures, garden parties and so on. It will also cover the maintenance of the Royal Palaces in England and the cost of travel to carry out royal engagements such as opening buildings and other royal visits....

While the amount of the Grant will be linked to the profits of the Crown Estate, those profits will continue to be paid in to the Exchequer; they are not to be hypothecated. Setting the Grant at a percentage of profits of the Crown Estate will help to put in place a durable and transparent framework.

In April 2014 it was reported that the Crown Estate was proposing to sell about 200 of its 750 rural homes in the UK, and was evicting tenants in preparation.^[32][33]

Crown land in Ireland

In 1793, George III surrendered the hereditary revenues of the Kingdom of Ireland, and was granted a civil list annuity for certain expenses of Irish civil government.^[26][34][35] Most of the Crown land by then was from forfeitures after the 1641 rebellion or the 1688–91 revolution, with some smaller older parcels remaining from earlier rebellions, the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the Norman period.^[36][37] Most confiscated land had been granted away again, as under the Adventurers' Act 1642, Act of Settlement 1662, and the Act of Resumption 1700.^[36][37]

The balance which remained in Crown hands included the "undisposed lands" of the 1662 settlement (worth less than the small quit rent that a grantee would have had to pay) and the balance unsold by the trustees under the 1700 act at its 1703 time limit.^[36] The scattered crown lands were farmed out on long leases with little regard to the collection of rent.^[36] Responsibility lay with the Quit Rent Office, which was absorbed in 1827 by the Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues.^[34] The largest Crown estate in the 1820s was Pobble O'Keefe in Sliabh Luachra at 5,000 acres (2,000 ha).^[36][37]

In 1828 the lease expired, and Richard Griffith was appointed to supervise its improvement, including the foundation of the model village of Kingwilliamstown.^[38] In the early 1830s the Crown Estate resumed possession of land in Ballykilcline following the insanity of the head lessee. The occupational sub-lessees were seven years in arrears with their rent and the result was the Ballykilcline "removals" – free emigration to the new world in 1846. There was further state-assisted emigration from overpopulated Crown estates during the Great Famine.^[39] There is evidence of Crown Estate public work schemes to employ the more distressed in improving drainage etc.^[40] In 1854 a select committee of the House of Lords concluded that the small estates in Ireland should be sold.^[41] 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) were subsequently sold for circa £25,000 (equal to £2,496,413 today) at auction and £10,000 (equal to £998,565 today) by private treaty: a major disinvestment, with reinvestment in Great Britain.^[24]

Article 11 of the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State provided that Crown Estate land within the Irish Free State would belong to the state,^[42] which took over administrative responsibilities on 1 April 1923. At the time of handover, quit rents totalled £23,418 (equal to £1,420,956 today) and rent from property £1,191 (equal to £72,267 today).^[24] The estates handed over mostly comprised foreshore.^[43]

The Crown Estate in Northern Ireland in 1960 comprised "a few quit rents ... yielding yearly only £38."^[43] By 2016 it had an income of £1.4m, from cables, pipelines and windfarms on the foreshore, and goldmining in County Tyrone.^[44][45] Development of the seabed below low tide is hampered by a sovereignty dispute with the Republic of Ireland.^[46]

Crown land in Scotland

It was not until 1830 that King William IV revoked the income from the Crown estates in Scotland.^[47] The hereditary land revenues of the Crown in Scotland, formerly under the management of the Barons of the Exchequer, were transferred to the Commissioners of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings and their successors under the Crown Lands (Scotland) Acts of 1832, 1833 and 1835.^[48] These holdings mainly comprised former ecclesiastical land (following the abolition of the episcopacy in 1689) in Caithness and Orkney, and ancient royal possession in Stirling and Edinburgh, and feudal dues.^[43]

There was virtually no urban property. Most of the present Scottish estate excepting foreshore and salmon fishing is due to inward investment, including Glenlivet Estate, the largest area of land managed by the Crown Estate in Scotland, purchased in 1937,^[49] Applegirth, Fochabers and Whitehill estates, purchased in 1963, 1937 and 1969 respectively.^[50]

After winning the 2011 Scottish election, the Scottish National party (SNP) called for the devolution of the Crown Estate income to Scotland.^[51] In response to this demand, the Scotland Office decided against dividing up the Crown Estates. However, plans were developed to allocate some of the Crown Estate income to the Big Lottery Fund, which would then distribute funds to coastal communities.^[51] These plans were criticised by the SNP.^[51]

Crown Estate Scotland

The Scotland Act of 2016 allowed the Scottish Government to take control of a portfolio of assets totalling £272 million ($339.6 million) after a devolved Scottish Crown Estate was established, including the rights to develop marine energy projects in the country. A new public body, Crown Estate Scotland (CES), was established to manage these assets.^[52]

Prior to the handover, the Crown Estate owned a multi-million stake in Fort Kinnaird retail park in Edinburgh representing about 60% of the value of all Crown assets in Scotland. This was not passed to Crown Estates Scotland with other Scottish properties in 2016. Two years later, the Crown Estate sold its stake and used the funds to assume full ownership of the Gallagher Retail Park in Cheltenham.^[53]

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England and Wales

England and Wales

England and Wales is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is English law.

Norman Conquest

Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops—all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror.

Right of conquest

Right of conquest

The right of conquest is a right of ownership to land after immediate possession via force of arms. It was recognized as a principle of international law that gradually deteriorated in significance until its proscription in the aftermath of World War II following the concept of crimes against peace introduced in the Nuremberg Principles. The interdiction of territorial conquests was confirmed and broadened by the UN Charter, which provides in article 2, paragraph 4, that "All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." Although civil wars continued, wars between established states have been rare since 1945. Nations that have resorted to the use of force since the Charter came into effect have typically invoked self-defense or the right of collective defense.

Feudalism in England

Feudalism in England

Feudalism as practiced in the Kingdoms of England during the medieval period was a state of human society that organized political and military leadership and force around a stratified formal structure based on land tenure. As a military defense and socio-economic paradigm designed to direct the wealth of the land to the king while it levied military troops to his causes, feudal society was ordered around relationships derived from the holding of land. Such landholdings are termed fiefdoms, traders, fiefs, or fees.

Seneschal

Seneschal

The word seneschal can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ducal, or noble household during the Middle Ages and early Modern period – historically a steward or majordomo of a medieval great house. In a medieval royal household, a seneschal was in charge of domestic arrangements and the administration of servants, which, in the medieval period particularly, meant the seneschal might oversee hundreds of laborers, servants and their associated responsibilities, and have a great deal of power in the community, at a time when much of the local economy was often based on the wealth and responsibilities of such a household.

Anne, Queen of Great Britain

Anne, Queen of Great Britain

Anne was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland from 8 March 1702 until 1 May 1707. On 1 May 1707, under the Acts of Union, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united as a single sovereign state known as Great Britain. Anne continued to reign as Queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death in 1714.

Alienation (property law)

Alienation (property law)

In property law, alienation is the voluntary act of an owner of some property to dispose of the property, while alienability, or being alienable, is the capacity for a piece of property or a property right to be sold or otherwise transferred from one party to another. Most property is alienable, but some may be subject to restraints on alienation.

Edward I of England

Edward I of England

Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 to 1306, he ruled Gascony as Duke of Aquitaine in his capacity as a vassal of the French king. Before his accession to the throne, he was commonly referred to as the Lord Edward. The eldest son of Henry III, Edward was involved from an early age in the political intrigues of his father's reign. In 1259, he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting the Provisions of Oxford. After reconciliation with his father, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the Second Barons' War. After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was held hostage by the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and defeated the baronial leader Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. Within two years the rebellion was extinguished and, with England pacified, Edward left to join the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land in 1270. He was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed of his father's death. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution is the term first used in 1689 to summarise events leading to the deposition of James II and VII of England, Ireland and Scotland in November 1688, and his replacement by his daughter Mary II and her husband and James's nephew William III of Orange, de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic. Known as the Glorieuze Overtocht or Glorious Crossing in the Netherlands, it has been described both as the last successful invasion of England as well as an internal coup.

Government debt

Government debt

A country's gross government debt is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occurs when a government's expenditures exceed revenues. Government debt may be owed to domestic residents, as well as to foreign residents. If owed to foreign residents, that quantity is included in the country's external debt.

Civil list

Civil list

A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government, typically for service to the state or as honorary pensions. It is a term especially associated with the United Kingdom and its former colonies of Canada, India, New Zealand, Singapore and many more. It was originally defined as expenses supporting the monarch.

Duchy of Lancaster

Duchy of Lancaster

The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properties and assets held in trust for the sovereign and is administered separately from the Crown Estate. The duchy consists of 18,433 ha of land holdings, urban developments, historic buildings and some commercial properties across England and Wales, particularly in Cheshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Savoy Estate in London. The Duchy of Lancaster is one of two royal duchies: the other is the Duchy of Cornwall, which provides income to the Duke of Cornwall, a title which is traditionally held by the Prince of Wales.

Crown Estate Act 1961

The Crown Estate is now a statutory corporation run on commercial lines by the Crown Estate Commissioners under the provisions of the Crown Estate Act 1961. Under that Act, the Crown Estate Commissioners have a duty "while maintaining the Crown Estate as an estate in land [...] to maintain and enhance its value and the return obtained from it, but with due regard to the requirements of good management".^[54]

The Act provides among other things that (Section 1(5)) "The validity of transactions entered into by the Commissioners shall not be called in question on any suggestion of their not having acted in accordance with the provisions of this Act regulating the exercise of their powers, or of their having otherwise acted in excess of their authority, nor shall any person dealing with the Commissioners be concerned to inquire as to the extent of their authority or the observance of any restrictions on the exercise of their powers".

Summary of the Act

The Act includes the following:^[55]

• The Crown Estate is an estate in land only, apart from cash and gilts holdings necessary for the conduct of business.
• The Crown Estate Commissioners, who comprise the main board, are approved by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister. They are limited to eight persons.
• The board of commissioners have a duty to:
  • maintain and enhance the capital value of the estate and its revenue income; but at the same time
  • take into account the need to observe a high standard of estate management practice.
• When selling or letting its property the Crown Estate should always seek to achieve the best consideration (i.e. price) which can reasonably be obtained in all the circumstances, but discounting any monopoly value (mainly from ownership of the foreshore and seabed).
• The Crown Estate cannot grant leases for a term of longer than 150 years.
• The Crown Estate cannot grant land options for more than ten years unless the property is re-valued when the option is exercised.
• The Crown Estate cannot borrow money.
• Donations can be made for religious or educational purposes connected with the estate or for tenants' welfare. Otherwise, charitable donations are forbidden.
• The character of the Windsor Estate (park and forest) must be preserved; no part of the estate may be sold.
• A report should be submitted to the monarch and to Parliament annually, showing the performance of the estate over the previous year.
• The Crown Estate should observe professional accounting practices and distinguish in its accounts between capital and revenue.
• Money received as a premium from a tenant on the granting of a new lease should be allocated between capital and revenue as follows:
  • where the lease is for a term of thirty years or less it must be treated as revenue;
  • for leases of more than thirty years it must be treated as capital.

In 2010 a UK Parliament Treasury Committee report on the Crown Estate, the first for twenty years, reported that

• it is "alarmed" that the Crown Estate in 2007 started investing in joint ventures such as the Gibraltar Limited Partnership, which it says is in "grave" financial difficulties. The Crown Estate owns 50% of the partnership, which owns the Fort Kinnaird retail park near Edinburgh;
• the Crown Estate has a monopoly over the marine environment, and has focused too strongly on collecting revenues rather than acting in the long-term public interest around ports and harbours;
• the quality of residential property management in the urban estate falls short. Consultation processes have lacked transparency, and the committee was "particularly concerned" that the Crown Estate had failed to consult local bodies which had rights to nominate key workers;
• some non-commercial historic properties should be reviewed with a view to transferring management to conservation bodies such as English Heritage;
• ministers should take a greater interest in the Crown Estate, because its overall management struggles to balance revenue generation with acting in the wider public interest.

Crown Estate chief executive Roger Bright said: "We welcome the Committee’s recognition that we run a successful business operation."^[56]

Urban portfolio

This includes the entirety of Regent Street and around half of St James's in London's West End as well as retail property across the UK in locations including Oxford, Exeter, Nottingham, Newcastle, Harlow, and Swansea.^[57]

In 2002 the Crown Estate began implementing a £1 billion investment programme to improve Regent Street's commercial, retail, and visitor facilities and public realm. In addition, it is investing £500 million in St James's, including a number of major redevelopments.

Rural portfolio

Holdings consist of around 116,000 hectares (287,000 acres) of agricultural land and forests, together with minerals and residential and commercial property.^[58]

Windsor Estate

The Windsor Estate covers approximately 6,300 hectares and includes Windsor Great Park, the Home Park of Windsor Castle, extensive forests, residential and commercial properties, golf courses, a racecourse and let farms.

Marine holdings

The Crown Estate's marine holdings consist of:

The Crown Estate plays a major role in the development of the offshore wind energy industry in the UK. Other commercial activity managed by the Crown Estate on the seabed includes wave and tidal energy, carbon capture and storage, aggregates, submarine cables and pipelines and the mining of potash. In terms of the foreshore, the Crown Estate issue licences or leases for around 850 aquaculture sites and owns marina space for approximately 18,000 moorings. As of 2020^[update], marine holdings had a value of £4.1 billion.^[63]

Other rights and interests

Other rights and interests include:

Finances

In the 2021/2022 fiscal year, the Crown Estate's property evaluation was £15.6 billion with a £312.7 million net revenue profit, which is paid into the Consolidated Fund of the UK government.^[1]

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Regent Street

Regent Street

Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place in St James's at the southern end, through Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus, to All Souls Church. From there Langham Place and Portland Place continue the route to Regent's Park.

Oxford

Oxford

Oxford is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. It had a population of 162,100 at the 2021 census. It is 56 miles (90 km) north-west of London, 64 miles (103 km) south-east of Birmingham and 61 miles (98 km) north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world; it has buildings in every style of English architecture since late Anglo-Saxon. Oxford's industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, information technology and science.

Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a cathedral city and the county town of Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately 36 mi (58 km) northeast of Plymouth and 65 mi (105 km) southwest of Bristol.

Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located 110 miles (180 km) north-west of London, 33 miles (53 km) south-east of Sheffield and 45 miles (72 km) north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robin Hood and to the lace-making, bicycle and tobacco industries. The city is also the county town of Nottinghamshire and the settlement was granted its city charter in 1897, as part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Nottingham is a tourist destination; in 2018, the city received the second-highest number of overnight visitors in the Midlands and the highest number in the East Midlands.

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is also the most populous city of North East England. Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius and the settlement later took the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose.

Harlow

Harlow

Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upper Stort Valley, which has been made navigable through other towns and features a canal section near its watermill. Old Harlow is a historic village founded by the early medieval age and most of its high street buildings are early Victorian and residential, mostly protected by one of the Conservation Areas in the district. In Old Harlow is a field named Harlowbury, a de-settled monastic area which has the remains of a chapel, a scheduled ancient monument.

Home Park, Windsor

Home Park, Windsor

The Home Park, previously known as the Little Park, is a private 655-acre (265 ha) Royal park, administered by the Crown Estate. It lies on the eastern side of Windsor Castle in the town and former civil parish of Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. To its south is Windsor Great Park.

Ascot Racecourse

Ascot Racecourse

Ascot Racecourse is a dual-purpose British racecourse, located in Ascot, Berkshire, England, which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. It hosts 13 of Britain's 36 annual Flat Group 1 horse races and three Grade 1 Jumps races.

Duchy of Cornwall

Duchy of Cornwall

The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch obtains possession of the duchy and the title of 'Duke of Cornwall' at birth or when his parent succeeds to the throne, but may not sell assets for personal benefit and has limited rights and income while a minor.

Duchy of Lancaster

Duchy of Lancaster

The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properties and assets held in trust for the sovereign and is administered separately from the Crown Estate. The duchy consists of 18,433 ha of land holdings, urban developments, historic buildings and some commercial properties across England and Wales, particularly in Cheshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Savoy Estate in London. The Duchy of Lancaster is one of two royal duchies: the other is the Duchy of Cornwall, which provides income to the Duke of Cornwall, a title which is traditionally held by the Prince of Wales.

Continental Shelf Act 1964 (United Kingdom)

Continental Shelf Act 1964 (United Kingdom)

The Continental Shelf Act 1964 is a UK Act of Parliament that governs drilling for oil on the continental shelf around the British Isles. It extended the land regime to areas outside UK territorial waters, where international law recognised the UK right to the seabed, subsoil and natural resources.

Carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process in which a relatively pure stream of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial sources is separated, treated and transported to a long-term storage location. For example, the carbon dioxide stream that is to be captured can result from burning fossil fuels or biomass. Usually the CO2 is captured from large point sources, such as a chemical plant or biomass plant, and then stored in an underground geological formation. The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus mitigate climate change.

Historical

Previous officials responsible for managing what is now the Crown Estate were:^[65]

• Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases and Surveyor General of the Land Revenues of the Crown, 17th century to 1810
• Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues, 1810–1831
• Commissioners of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings, 1832–1850
• Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues, 1851–1924
• Commissioners of Crown Lands, 1924–1954

Chairmen and chief executives of the Crown Estate Commissioners

Chairmen (First Commissioner)

• 1955–62 – Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve (later Lord Silsoe) (1894–1976)
• 1962–77 – The Earl of Perth (1907–2002)
• 1977–80 – Lord Thomson of Monifieth (1921–2008)
• 1980–85 – The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres (1927–2023)
• 1985–95 – The Earl of Mansfield and Mansfield (1930–2015)
• 1995–2002 – Sir Denys Hartley Henderson (1932–2016)
• 2002–2009 – Sir Ian David Grant (1943–2022)
• 2010–2016 – Sir Stuart Hampson (born 1947)
• 2016 – Robin Budenberg (born 1959)

Chief executives (Second Commissioner)

• 1955–60 – Sir Ronald Montague Joseph Harris (1913–1995)
• 1960–68 – Sir Jack Alexander Sutherland-Harris (1908–1986)
• 1968–78 – Sir William Alan Wood (1916–2010)
• 1978–83 – Sir John Michael Moore (1921–2016)
• 1983–89 – Dr Keith Dexter (1928–1989)
• 1989-2001 – Sir Christopher Howes (born 1942)
• 2001–2011 – Roger Martin Francis Bright (born 1951)
• 2012–2019 – Dame Alison Nimmo (born 1964)
• 2019 – Dan Labbad

The chairman (formally titled "first commissioner") is part-time. The chief executive (the "second commissioner") is the only full-time executive member of the Crown Estate's board.^[66]

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Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases

Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases

The post of Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks and Chases was an office under the English Crown, charged with the management of Crown lands. The office was at one time divided between surveyors south and north of the river Trent, but in the 18th century, the two posts were combined. In 1810, by the Act 50 Geo III Cap 65, later amended by the Act 10 Geo IV Cap 50, the functions of the post were merged with those of the Surveyor General of the Land Revenues of the Crown and became the responsibility of a new body, the Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues.

Commissioners of Woods and Forests

Commissioners of Woods and Forests

The Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues were established in the United Kingdom in 1810 by merging the former offices of Surveyor General of Woods, Forests, Parks, and Chases and Surveyor General of the Land Revenues of the Crown into a three-man commission. The name of the commission was changed in 1832 to the Commissioners of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings.

Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues

Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues

The Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues were officials under the United Kingdom Crown, charged with the management of Crown lands. Their office were customarily known as the Office of Woods.

Malcolm Trustram Eve, 1st Baron Silsoe

Malcolm Trustram Eve, 1st Baron Silsoe

Arthur Malcolm Trustram Eve, 1st Baron Silsoe, known as Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve, 1st Baronet, from 1943 to 1963, was a British barrister and First Church Estates Commissioner.

George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth

George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth

George Morgan Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth, was a British politician and journalist who served as a Labour MP. He was a member of Harold Wilson's cabinet, and later became a European Commissioner.

Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford

Robert Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford

Robert Alexander Lindsay, 29th Earl of Crawford, 12th Earl of Balcarres, Baron Balniel,, known by courtesy as Lord Balniel between 1940 and 1975, was a Scottish hereditary peer and Conservative politician who was a member of Parliament from 1955 to 1974. Lord Crawford and Balcarres was chief of Clan Lindsay and also acted, from 1975 to 2019, as Premier Earl of Scotland.

Denys Henderson

Denys Henderson

Sir Denys Hartley Henderson was a British businessman. He was chairman of ICI from 1987 to 1995.

Stuart Hampson

Stuart Hampson

Sir Stuart Hampson is a British businessman. He was formerly chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. He was the fourth person to be appointed and held the position since 1993.

Robin Budenberg

Robin Budenberg

Robin Francis Budenberg CBE is a British Corporate Adviser. He was appointed non-executive Director of Lloyds Banking Group on 1 October 2020 and became Chairman on 4 January 2021 and was appointed Chairman of The Crown Estate on 9 August 2016.

John Moore (civil servant)

John Moore (civil servant)

Sir John Michael Moore, KCVO, CB, DSC was a British civil servant. Educated at Selwyn College, Cambridge, he served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He entered the civil service in 1946 and joined the Ministry of Transport, where he was Joint Principal Private Secretary to the Minister from 1956 to 1959, an Assistant Secretary from 1959 to 1966 and then an Under-Secretary; four years later moved to the Department of the Environment, and then to the Civil Service Department in 1972 as a Deputy Secretary. Between 1978 and 1983, he was the Second Crown Estate Commissioner.

Christopher Howes

Christopher Howes

Sir Christopher Kingston Howes is a British Chartered Surveyor. A specialist in the study of land and buildings, with careers in the public, private, and academic sectors, he has worked in city planning, land use, and environmental management.

Alison Nimmo

Alison Nimmo

Dame Alison Nimmo DBE is a Scottish Chartered Surveyor who was chief executive of The Crown Estate, from 2012 to 2019.