Crichel Down affair
Encyclopedia
The Crichel Down affair was a British political scandal
of 1954, with a subsequent effect and notoriety. The Crichel Down Rules are guidelines applying to compulsory purchase drawn up in the light of the affair.
, Dorset
. Much of the land in question was part of the estate of Crichel House
, owned by the 3rd Baron Alington
. The land was purchased compulsorily in 1938 by the Air Ministry for use for bombing practice by the Royal Air Force
. The purchase price when it was requisitioned was £12,006.
In 1940, the owner died on active service in the RAF, and the Crichel Estate passed in trust to his only child, Mary Anna Sturt (then aged 11), who married Commander Marten in 1949.
In 1941 Winston Churchill
gave a promise in Parliament that the land would be returned to its owners, after World War II, when it was no longer required for the purpose for which it had been bought. This promise was not honoured. Instead the land (then valued at £21,000) was handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture who vastly increased the cost of the land beyond the amount the original owners could afford (£32,000), and leased it out.
. This committee of inquiry was chaired by Sir Oliver Franks and, with much publicity, the Franks Report
was damning about actions in the case taken by those acting for the Government. Archive material later released caused some shift in interpretation.
The Minister responsible resigned, and the Crichel Estate part of the land was sold back to the owners (the Martens), as described in "The Battle for Crichel Down".
The resignation of the government minister Sir Thomas Dugdale has been taken as setting a precedent on ministerial responsibility
, even though the doctrine supposed to arise from the affair is only partially supported by the details. Lord Carrington
, Dugdale's junior minister, offered his resignation but was told to stay on.
Crichel had another fight against "authority" on its hands in the 1990s.
R. T. Fishall
mentions the scandal on page 9 of his book "Bureaucrats:How to Annoy Them".
Political scandal
A political scandal is a kind of political corruption that is exposed and becomes a scandal, in which politicians or government officials are accused of engaging in various illegal, corrupt, or unethical practices...
of 1954, with a subsequent effect and notoriety. The Crichel Down Rules are guidelines applying to compulsory purchase drawn up in the light of the affair.
The Crichel Down land
The case centred on 725 acres (2.9 km²) of agricultural land at Crichel Down, near Long CrichelLong Crichel
Long Crichel is a hamlet in east Dorset, England, situated on Cranborne Chase five miles north east of Blandford Forum. The hamlet has a population of 81 ....
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. Much of the land in question was part of the estate of Crichel House
Crichel House
Crichel House is a country house located near the village of Moor Crichel in Dorset, England. It is surrounded by of parkland, which includes a crescent-shaped lake covering ....
, owned by the 3rd Baron Alington
Napier Sturt, 3rd Baron Alington
Captain Napier George Henry Sturt, 3rd Baron Alington was a British peer, the son of Humphrey Sturt, 2nd Baron Alington....
. The land was purchased compulsorily in 1938 by the Air Ministry for use for bombing practice by the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. The purchase price when it was requisitioned was £12,006.
In 1940, the owner died on active service in the RAF, and the Crichel Estate passed in trust to his only child, Mary Anna Sturt (then aged 11), who married Commander Marten in 1949.
In 1941 Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
gave a promise in Parliament that the land would be returned to its owners, after World War II, when it was no longer required for the purpose for which it had been bought. This promise was not honoured. Instead the land (then valued at £21,000) was handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture who vastly increased the cost of the land beyond the amount the original owners could afford (£32,000), and leased it out.
Aftermath
In 1949 the Martens, now the owners of the Crichel Estate, began a campaign for the Government promise to be kept, by a return sale of the land. They gained a Public InquiryPublic inquiry
A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...
. This committee of inquiry was chaired by Sir Oliver Franks and, with much publicity, the Franks Report
Franks Report (1957)
The Franks Report of 1957 was issued by a British committee of inquiry chaired by Sir Oliver Franks in respect of growing concerns as to the range and diversity of tribunals, uncertainty about the procedures they followed and worry over lack of cohesion and supervision. The catalyst for this was...
was damning about actions in the case taken by those acting for the Government. Archive material later released caused some shift in interpretation.
The Minister responsible resigned, and the Crichel Estate part of the land was sold back to the owners (the Martens), as described in "The Battle for Crichel Down".
The resignation of the government minister Sir Thomas Dugdale has been taken as setting a precedent on ministerial responsibility
Ministerial responsibility
Ministerial responsibility or individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention in governments using the Westminster System that a cabinet minister bears the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their ministry or department...
, even though the doctrine supposed to arise from the affair is only partially supported by the details. Lord Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
, Dugdale's junior minister, offered his resignation but was told to stay on.
Crichel had another fight against "authority" on its hands in the 1990s.
Analysis
From page 3 of the monograph, "Whose land was it anyway? The Crichel Down Rules and the sale of public land" by Roger Gibbard:-- In the history of modern parliament, the Crichel Down affair takes on momentous significance, and has been described as a ‘political bombshell’. The public inquiry into the Crichel Down events revealed a catalogue of ineptitude and maladministration and resulted directly in the resignation of the Secretary of State for Agriculture (Sir Thomas Dugdale), then a senior cabinet position, and was the first case of Ministerial resignation since 1917. Whilst the underlying case was, in the scale of things, trivial, involving the transfer of some seven hundred acres of mediocre agricultural land in Dorset, the ramifications for subsequent government procedure have been enormous, and it is regarded as one of the key events leading to the creation of the post of OmbudsmanOmbudsmanAn ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
. Crichel Down was probably the first instance of close and very public scrutiny being directed at a Minister of the Crown in the execution of his duties.
R. T. Fishall
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...
mentions the scandal on page 9 of his book "Bureaucrats:How to Annoy Them".