Report and Accounts Year ended 31st March 2021 Preserving the past, investing for the future Stall plate of The Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh KG KT OM GCVO GBE in The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy annual report to 31st March 2021 Annual Report Report and accounts of the Duchy of Lancaster for the year ended 31 March 2021 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 2 of the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall (Accounts) Act 1838. annual report to 31st March 2021 Introduction Introduction History The Duchy of Lancaster is a private In 1265, King Henry III gifted to his estate in England and Wales second son Edmund (younger owned by Her Majesty The Queen brother of the future Edward I) as Duke of Lancaster. It has been the baronial lands of Simon de the personal estate of the reigning Montfort. A year later, he added Monarch since 1399 and is held the estate of Robert Ferrers, Earl separately from all other Crown of Derby and then the ‘honor, possessions. county, town and castle of Lancaster’, giving Edmund the new This ancient inheritance began title of Earl of Lancaster. over 750 years ago. Historically, its In 1267, Edmund also received growth was achieved via legacy, from his father the manor of alliance and forfeiture. In modern Newcastle-under-Lyme in times, growth and diversification Staffordshire, together with lands have been delivered through and estates in both Yorkshire active asset management. and Lancashire. This substantial inheritance was further enhanced Today, the estate covers 18,248 Her Majesty The Queen, Duke of by Edmund’s mother, Eleanor of Lancaster. hectares of rural land divided into Provence, who bestowed on him five Surveys: Cheshire, Lancashire, the manor of the Savoy in 1284. Southern, Staffordshire and Yorkshire. It also includes Foreshore Edmund’s inheritance passed to ownerships, a Minerals Survey and his son Thomas, Earl of Lancaster a significant Urban Survey which who was executed for rebellion is made up of a number of office, by King Edward II in 1322. Thomas’ retail and industrial properties lands and titles were forfeited but across the country. eventually passed to his brother Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster 1245-1296 © The Dean and Chapter of Westminster. Preserving the past, investing for the future 3 annual report to 31st March 2021 Introduction continued Henry and on his death to Henry’s other Crown possessions, remaining son, the celebrated diplomat and always with the House of Lancaster. soldier Henry Grosmont, on whom Edward III conferred the title Duke However, after the War of the of Lancaster ‘in recognition of (his) Roses, the bloodline of the historic astonishing deeds of prowess and Lancastrian kings was broken feats of arms’ in 1351. and Edward IV of York became King in 1461, taking possession Edward III also raised Lancaster of Henry VI’s forfeited estates. to the status of a County Palatine By Act of Parliament, Edward for the duration of Henry’s life. IV ‘incorporated’ the Duchy, Palatinate powers were devolved declaring that the Lancaster royal powers for use in regions inheritance should descend where central government was through the Monarchy as a private difficult. These devolved powers estate to be held ‘for ever to us gave the Duke of Lancaster and our heirs, Kings of England, administrative control of the law separate from all other Royal Stone carved likeness of John courts and the right to appoint O’Gaunt, Lancaster Castle. possessions.’ the sheriff, judges, justices of the peace and other senior officials Some 300 years later, under the serving the County. Crown Lands Act 1702, it was provided that the Sovereign When Henry Grosmont died in should only receive income and 1361, the inheritance became not capital from the Duchy. This part of his daughter Blanche’s remains the case today. dowry. She had married one of Edward III’s sons, John of Gaunt, The Duchy Today in 1359. John was thus made 2nd More than 750 years on, the Duke of Lancaster in 1362 and he Duchy of Lancaster has in large persuaded his father Edward III to part retained its historic land and grant the Palatinate powers to him property holdings. However, as a and his heirs permanently. modern portfolio, its assets also When John died in 1399, King include office, retail and industrial Richard II confiscated the property, as well as development Lancaster inheritance and land. banished John’s son, Henry The Duchy is administered by Bolingbroke, from England for life. the Chancellor of the Duchy Within the year, Henry Bolingbroke of Lancaster on behalf of the returned from exile, raised an army Sovereign. The Chancellor in turn Charter of Henry III to Edmund, and forced Richard to abdicate. delegates functions such as the 1267. He ascended the throne as Henry management of the property IV in October 1399. portfolio, financial investments One of Henry’s first acts as King and the discharge of the Duchy’s was to stipulate the conditions on administrative duties to the Duchy which the Lancaster inheritance Council. Members of Council are should be held. He specified that appointed by the Sovereign on the it should be held separately from advice of the Chancellor. The day- 4 Preserving the past, investing for the future annual report to 31st March 2021 to-day management of the Duchy Areas of focus over the last year is undertaken by the executive have included developing a team who report to the Council. greater understanding of the biodiversity across our holdings, The net revenue of the estate is sharing best practice around paid to the Keeper of the Privy responsible soil management and Purse for Her Majesty The Queen as improving the quality and scope Duke of Lancaster. The Duchy is not of our woodland. We will continue subject to corporation tax because to encourage our agricultural the Duchy is not a separate legal tenants to improve the quality entity for tax purposes. However, and productivity of the land they Her Majesty The Queen voluntarily farm while continuing to protect pays tax on all income received and preserve the Duchy’s historic from the Duchy. buildings and holdings. Guiding Principles Our business strategy is to continue to deliver sustainable revenue The Duchy of Lancaster is both The Duchy of Lancaster office, the custodian of an historic growth while working with our Savoy Estate, London. landed estate and a professional tenants and their communities organisation which must observe to provide appropriate help and the rigour and disciplines of a support wherever practicable. contemporary asset management company. Its role is to preserve and Working with tenants and partners enhance the value of the ancient across England and Wales, the inheritance while protecting Duchy Council remains keen to the lives and livelihoods of its support strategic diversification tenants and ensuring the long- and innovation as a means of term sustainability of the natural safeguarding the stability and long- environment. term sustainability of the estate as a whole. As a major owner of agricultural land and areas of outstanding Our business strategy is continually natural beauty across England reviewed and updated in response and Wales, the Duchy has to market changes to ensure that a responsibility to safeguard the business remains appropriately this natural capital for future focused and balanced. generations. Our partnership with our agricultural tenants therefore extends beyond the Lancaster Castle’s imposing John contractual and includes the O’Gaunt gate. provision of professional support and guidance. Land use is monitored and investment in new technologies and energy sources actively encouraged. Preserving the past, investing for the future 5 annual report to 31st March 2021 The Surveys Rural Surveys There are 11 main farms on Minerals There are five Rural Surveys within the estate which are involved the Duchy: Cheshire, Lancashire, in dairy, arable and livestock Southern, Staffordshire and production as well as equestrian Yorkshire. The Southern Survey businesses and woodlands. At combines the Duchy’s Lincolnshire Crewe Hall Farm the Duchy assets with those in Derbyshire, has created a highly sought- Northamptonshire and South after business address, with a Wales. number of companies in flexible office suites of varying sizes All five Surveys are managed in surrounded by views of the open house by a multi-disciplinary team countryside. The Duchy has an extensive mineral of rural surveyors, estate managers portfolio which extends from South The estate also includes a and rural accountants based in our Wales to North Yorkshire. It consists of residential lettings portfolio London and Lancaster offices. limestone and sandstone quarries which of 65 rural cottages and supply material to the UK construction farmhouses, as well as a roadside sector and a mine supplying gypsum to • Cheshire service area and a number of the cement industry. The Cheshire Survey extends to potential future development 1,550 hectares and is made up opportunities. of the Crewe estate to the south of the county and the smaller The smaller Marbury Estate on Marbury estate which lies on the Shropshire border consists of the Cheshire/Shropshire border. a single livestock farm and four Centred on the historic properties residential properties let to local of Crewe Hall and Crewe Hall people. Farm, the Crewe estate extends to 1,516 hectares, stretching from • Lancashire the edge of the town to the M6 The Lancashire Survey extends at Junction 16. to 3,943 hectares in total, comprising four rural estates: Myerscough, Salwick, Whitewell and Wyreside. The Duchy has owned Myerscough since the 13th century. There are six principal agricultural holdings on the 578-hectare estate, including three which form part of the renowned agricultural training centre at Myerscough College.