Sturges v Bridgman LR 11 Ch D 852 is a landmark case in nuisance

Nuisance in English law

Nuisance in English law is an area of tort law broadly divided into two torts; private nuisance, where the actions of the defendant are "causing a substantial and unreasonable interference with a [claimant]'s land or his use or enjoyment of that land", and public nuisance, where the defendant's...

. It decides that what constitutes reasonable use of one's property depends on the character of the locality. Though it may in some cases be harsh, this means therefore that it is not necessarily a defence to a nuisance claim to say "I was here first".

Facts

A doctor moved next door to a confectioner, who had produced sweets for sale in his kitchen for many years. The doctor constructed a small shed for the purpose of private practice. He built the shed on the boundary. However, the loud noises from the confectioner's industrial mortars and pestles could be clearly heard, disrupting his use and enjoyment of his land. He sought an injunction. The facts were described by Thesiger LJ in the Court of Appeal as follows,

Judgment

The Courts ruled that the fact the doctor had "come to the nuisance", by which the Judge meant moved to an area where the nuisance had been operating for years without harming anyone, was no defense. The doctor's legal right to have the nuisance stopped was not lessened by the confectioner's longstanding practice. The text of Thesiger LJ's judgment follows.