Aggrieved villagers are locked in a three-way legal battle over the loss of ancient grazing rights which they say has left them with just £100 income per year while their parish council, a golf club and the National Trust carve up more than £200,000 between them.
Locals claim they were left the land by an 18th century landowner who went on to become the governor of Virginia in the USA.
But a golf club was founded there in 1892 and the car park it runs earned £236,000 last year – with 20 per cent going to the National Trust, which says it owns land in the area, and another 20 per cent going to the parish council.
Residents living near the beachside spot at upmarket Brancaster in north Norfolk are demanding the proceeds are split equally four ways – but have run out of funds for the legal battle for now.
They took Brancaster Parish Council to the small claims court for a test case on behalf of one common rights holder claiming £1,500 in 2022 but have now discontinued it after the judge bumped the matter to a higher court where they faced massive legal bills.
Stephen Bocking, 75, a retired fishmonger, who is vice-chairman of the 300-strong Scolt Head and District Common Rightholders Association (SHDCRA), said: ‘We couldn’t pursue it any more because we’ve run out of money.
‘Going to a higher court would cost us £18,000. The High Court would be another £100,000.
‘When does the poor man get justice? We’re only peasants at the end of the day, not the rich and famous.’
Association chairman Chris Cotton added: ‘We want compensation for the loss of grazing on the common. The share of the car park money should go four ways, 25 per cent each.
‘All we get at the moment is £100 a year for a fence which keeps animals off the golf course.
‘The National Trust registered that land in 2009. How they could, I don’t know.
‘Then they applied to the golf club for compensation. The golf club have a 99-year lease from the National Trust.’
Mr Cotton said the land – which sits by one of the UK’s most spectacular beaches with miles of unspoilt golden sand – was left to the ordinary folk in the area by Colonel Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baronet Botetourt, for fishing, grazing and collecting samphire.
Lord Botetourt, a British Army officer and Tory politician, served as governor of Virginia from 1768 to 1770, when he died in office.
The 6,457-yard, par 71 Royal West Norfolk Golf Club was set up with little opposition well over a century ago, while the car park at the heart of the current dispute was built in the 1950s as daytrips to the coast by car became increasingly popular.
Visitors currently pay £5 for two hours or £11 for 24 hours during the summer season.
Last year, the 20 per cent cut the parish council and National Trust received amounted to £47,233 each. The year before, they each received £56,318 – making the annual takings £281,590.
Mr Bocking said: ‘Apparently the golf club put up £500 to have the car park built. Not a bad investment when you think of the hundreds of thousands of pounds they’ve got from it now.
‘All we want is something fair and reasonable. If money goes to the SHDCRA that would be used to maintain the common.’
The association said the issue with the car park arose before the Commons Registration Act 1965, after which those with claims had to register their interest.
Before then, they were represented by the parish council – meaning, they say, there was a conflict of interest when the council claimed a share of the proceeds.
In 2021, campaigners staged a protest at the site. Mr Bocking and Mr Cotton were both parish councillors at the time and were censured for taking part. Mr Cotton has since quit the council but Mr Bocking remains a member.
Parish clerk Simon Bower said at the time: ‘It’s been a long-standing situation which is unfortunate and divisive.’
The parish council was approached for a comment about the ongoing dispute.
The golf club was also asked to provide a statement.
The National Trust told the Mail its ownership of part of the site was registered with the Land Registry and anyone who wants to contest this should apply to challenge the register.
A spokesman added: ‘The National Trust has 673 hectares of land in its care across the Brancaster estate, including parts of the beach car park.
‘There is a lease in place with the Royal West Norfolk Golf Club that includes this land and the National Trust received a proportion of the revenue as part of this commercial agreement.’
Parish council chairman Tom de Winton claimed SHDCRA’s case was founded on ‘shouting and finger waving’ and had ‘only arisen since the car park income has become substantial recently’.
The money the council receives from the golf club was a donation that ‘could be withdrawn at any time’, he added.
‘So far, they (SHDCRA) have not produced any documentation supporting their claim,’ he said.
‘Their normal tactic of grand statements, shouting and finger waving does not prove anything.’
A golf club spokesman said: ‘The RWNGC has unimpeachable title to the land on which the golf course and car park sit, as recognised by the Land Registry under the Land Registration Act 2002.
‘How the car park is managed is not something on which I would wish to comment.’