Catalogue description Norfolk Estuary Company: Records

By the Norfolk Estuary Act, 1846, two areas comprising some 32,000 acres lying in the vicinity of King's Lynn and Sutton Bridge and forming part of the bed and shores of the Wash were vested in the Company of Proprietors of the Norfolk Estuary, for reclamation of the land, subject to the payment to the Crown as compensation for its interests in the areas, a sum equal to one per cent of the cost of embanking and reclaiming the land. If the Company failed to complete the work within 21 years from the date of the Act its powers would lapse and any unreclaimed areas would revert to the Crown.

Amending and repealing Acts were passed in 1849, 1853, 1857 and 1877, by which the period allowed for the reclamation of the areas concerned was extended from time to time. The 1877 Act (Section 55) provided for any unembanked land to revert to the Crown on 18th August 1909.

After negotiations in 1894, however, the Norfolk Estuary Act 1899 was passed, which differed from the previous Acts since it abolished the time limits and instead provided for the company's powers to continue from year to year until either it was wound up or it failed to expend in each year from 1st January 1909, £300 at least on reclamation works. Otherwise the unembanked land would revert to the Crown.

The 1899 Act also altered the compensation to be paid to the Crown in respect of its interests in the areas concerned, by substituting for the percentage payment a payment of 1/30th of the rents and profits obtained form the lands until they were embanked when a final payment of 1/30th of the value of land as embanked was to be made, after which the reclaimed areas became the property of the Company.

During each of the two World Wars the requirements for the company to spend £300 p.a. on reclamation works was suspended, but they were required within one year of the Declaration of Peace to make up the deficiency of such expenditure during the war years. A further suspension of the requirement to spend £300 p.a. was agreed for the 5 years from 1951, subject again to the expenditure being made up in the year after the 5 year period, but the company spent more than £300 in 1954 in carrying out the reclamation of 743 acres at Wingland and the arrangement was therefore terminated. Further proposals were subsequently put forward for the suspension of the requirement to spend £300 p.a. but no agreement was reached.

In 1960, the company again re-opened this question with The Crown Estate commissioners and contended that to spend the money would be wasteful because there would be no land ripe for reclamation for some years. After discussions and negotiations lasting several years, agreement was finally reached for the commissioners to purchase from the company all the reclaimed land still in its ownership, together with all the company's remaining reclamation rights, for a total sum of £223,500.

The agreement between the company and the commissioners was formalised by the Norfolk Estuary Act, 1964, which also provided for the winding up of the company. The purchase was finally completed by a Conveyance dated 5 August 1964, under which 1119 acres of reclaimed land, etc., were transferred to The Crown Estate commissioners together with the remaining reclamation rights.