§ Mr. J. BECKETTasked the Minister of Agriculture if he will give figures showing the area acreage of land belonging to the Crown, the War Office, Duchy of Lancaster, county councils, and various municipal bodies, respectively?
Mr. WOODThe amount of land owned by the Crown, exclusive of copy-holds held by the Crown, foreshores and areas in which the Crown owns the minerals but not the surface, is about 218,000 acres. The area of land belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster (exclusive of town properties, commons and copy-holds of manors and lands of which the surface is not, but the underlying miners are, owned by the Duchy) extends to approximately 25,000 acres. The War Office owns 213,500 acres. There is no recent return of the total area of land belonging to county councils in England and Wales, but there are returns which show that county councils and councils of county boroughs own 358,102 acres under the Small Holdings Acts 1908–1919 as well as 4,069 acres for the purpose of agricultural education. No return is available of the acreage of land owned by municipal authorities.