Chasemore v Richards
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 27 July 1859 |
| Date | 27 July 1859 |
| Court | House of Lords |
English Reports Citation: 11 E.R. 140
House of Lords
Mews' Dig. v. 26; vi. 568, 570; xiv. 1944, 1945, 1955, 1956, 2012. S.C. 29 L.J.Ex. 81; 5 Jur. N.S. 873; 7 W.R. 685; and, below, 2 H. and N. 168; 1 Rul. Cas. 729. Adopted in very many cases, among which reference may be made to Lyon v. Fishmongers' Co., 1876, 1 A.C. 673; Dalton v. Angus, 1881, 6 A.C. 759; Bradford (Mayor of) v. Pickles (1895), A.C. 587; Black v. Ballymena Commissioners, 1886, 17 L.R. Ir. 459. On point as to presumption of grant from owner of servient-tenement (7 H.L.C. 370), see Sturges v. Bridgman, 1879, 11 Ch. D. 855; Harris v. De Pinna, 1886, 33 Ch. D. 259.
GEORGE CHASEMORE,-Plaintiff in Error; HENRY RICHARDS,-Defendant in Error [Feb. 15, 16; June 11, July 27, 1859]. fMews' Dig. v. 26; vi. 568, 570; xiv. 1944, 1945, 1955, 1956, 2012. S.C. 29 L.J.Ex. 81; 5 Jur. N.S. 873; 7 W.R. 685; and, below, 2 H. and N. 168; 1 Rul. Cas. 729. Adopted in very many cases, among which reference may be made to Lyon v. Fishmongers' Co., 1876, 1 A.C. 673 ; Dalton v. Angus, 1881, 6 A.C. 759 ; Bradford (Mayor of) v. Pickles (1895), A.C. 587; Slack v. Ballymena Commissioners, 1886, 17 L.R. Ir. 459. On point as to presumption of grant from owner of servient-tenement (7 H.L.C. 370), see Sturges v. Bridgman, 1879, 11 Ch.D. 855 ; Harris v. De Pinna, 1886, 33 Ch.D. 259.] The principles which regulate the rights of owners of land in respect to' water flowing in known and defined channels, whether upon or below the surface of the ground, do not apply to underground water which merely percolates through the strata in no known channels. Where, therefore, A. a landowner and a millowner who had for above 60 years enjoyed the use of a stream which was chiefly supplied by such percolating underground water, lost the use of the stream after an adjoining landowner had dug, on his own ground, an extensive well for the purpose of supplying water to the inhabitants of the district, many of whom had no title as landowners to the use of the water : Held, that A. had no right of action. (Dickinson v. The Grand Junction Canal Company. 7 Exch. Rep. 282 questioned.) This was a- proceeding in Error on a judgment in the Court of Exchequer Chamber. The Plaintiff was a mill-[350]-owner near Croydon; the Defendant, the clerk of the Liocal Board of Health of that town, in which character he was sued. The declaration stated, that the Plaintiff was possessed of an ancient mill, with the appurtenances, and was entitled to the flow of a certain stream, called the Wandle, 140 CHASEMORE V. RICHARDS [1859] VII H.L.C., 851 for the purpose of working, using, and more conveniently enjoying the said mill, anc that the said board wrongfully abstracted and prevented the flow of and diverted the water of the said stream away from the said mill, and wrongfully abstracted and prevented and intercepted the flow of and diverted water which ought to have flowed into the said stream and mill, and continued to abstract, prevent, divert, and intercept the same respectively, by digging and sinking a well near to the said stream, and taking the water of such well. The Defendant pleaded not guilty, by statute. The statute stated in the margin was 11 and 12 Viet. c. 63, s. 139, a public Act. Upon this plea issue was joined. The cause came on for trial at the Kingston assizes in March 1854, before Mr. Baron Alderson, when a verdict was entered for the Plaintiff, subject to the award of Mr. Creasy, with power to him to state a special case for the opinion of the Court. A case was stated, and the following are the material facts set forth in it:- " The Plaintiff is, and at the time of the acts complained of was, possessed of and was the occupier of an ancient mill on the river Wandle, in the county of Surrey, called Waddon Mill, situate about one mile from the town of Croydon in the said county. " The Plaintiff and the preceding possessors and occupiers of the said mill, had, for upwards of sixty years next before the acts of the local board hereinafter mentioned, and for upwards of sixty years next before the bringing [351] of the action, used and enjoyed as of right, and been entitled to use and enjoy the flow of the said river for the purpose of working and using the said mill. " The river Wandle commences, and always has commenced its course near the part of the town of Croydon which is nearest to the said mill, and the said river flows and always has flowed thence to and by the Plaintiff's mill. " The river Wandle is, and always has been, fed and supplied above the Plaintiff's mill by (among other sources of supply) the water produced by the rainfall on a disi-trict of many thousand acres in extent, comprising the town of Croydon and its vicinity. " Large quantities of this water sink into the upper ground to' various depths, and then flow and percolate through the strata towards and to' the river Wandle (if not interfered with), in some instances rising to the surface as springs., and then flowing as little surface streams into the river; in other instances finding their whole way underground into the river. The precise lines and courses in which the underground runlets and particles of water so find their way underground towards and to the river vary continually and infinitely with the shiftings and variations in the soil which occur from, natural causes, but the general flow of large quantities of water to the river Wandle is as above described; and if they are not interfered with or intercepted, they form considerable sources of supply to the river, as well above as below the Plaintiff's mill. " It is impossible to know beforehand the precise or complete effect which the sinking a new well, and pumping from it in any part of the district above described, may have upon springs or streams in the vicinity; the effect may be instantly sensible and considerable, or for a long time no sensible effect may appear; but the [352] natural effect of abstracting a large quantity of water at any spot of the district above described is to diminish the quantity at every other spot throughout the district, though the amount of diminution at particular spots may be infinitesimally small; and the natural effect to1 be reasonably expected from, sinking a new well in such a district, and from continually or almost continually pumping thence large quantities of water for a long time, must be the sensible diminution of the water supply of springs and streams in the vicinity. " The above description is to be taken to apply to the district in question, not merely at the present time, but for 60 years and upwards next before the works and acts of the Local Board of Health hereinafter mentioned, and for 60 years and upwards before the bringing of the action. " The Local Board of Health for the town of Croydon was duly constituted under the ' Public Health Act,' and under the ' Public Health Supplemental Act, 1849.' " In the year of our Lord 1851, the said Local Board, for the purpose of supplying the town of Croydon, with water, and for other sanitary purposes under the said statutes, made and sank a large well to the depth of 74 feet in their own, ground, in 141 VII H.L.C., 353 CHASEMORE V. BICHARDS'[1859] a piece of land of and belonging to them in the town of Croydon, and within the district which has. been above described. The distance of the said well from the commencement of the river Wandle is about a quarter of a mile. They also erected pumps and steam-engines on their said ground, and began to pump water from the well into a reservoir and pipes, for the supply of the town at the end of the said year, and with slight periods- of intermission, have continued to do so to the present time. " The amount of water so pumped and taken by them through and f rom the said well during the period of six [353] calendar months: from the 16th of August, in the year of our Lord 1853, to the 16th day of February in the year of our Lord 1854, was between 500,000 and 600,000 gallons daily. Part of the said quantity of water so then pumped and taken by them through and from the said well, was water then flowing and finding its way underground through the strata in the manner above described, towards the River Wandle, and which, if not intercepted by the operation of the said well and pumping, would have flowed and found its way into the River Wandle above the Plaintiff's mill; but which, by the operation of the said well and pumping, was drawn away into the said well, and thence pumped up and taken by the said Local Board: and I find, as a fact, that the said Local Board did during the six months aforesaid, by means of the said well and pumping, abstract, divert, and intercept underground water, but underground water only, that otherwise would have flowed and found its way into the River Wandle, and would then and there, as part of the water and stream of the said river, have flowed and found its way to' the said mill of the Plaintiff, and have been applicable and serviceable to and for the working thereof, and that the same was sufficient in quantity to have been, of sensible value in and towards the working of the said mill. " And I find that the said Local Board did not, during any part of the time in question, intercept, divert., or abstract, or draw into their well, any water which had already joined the said River Wandle and become integral part: of the same, or which had already joined and become integral part of any surface stream running into the said river. " I farther find that the said Local Board, throughout all their acts and works hereinbefore described, were actuated by no malice against the Plaintiff or any one else, and that they did not intend in any way to diminish the quan-[354]-tity of water in the River Wandle, or to injure any person interested in the use of the said river; but the said Board at the time of their said acts and works, and throughout...
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Reviews
...cases such asMason vHill (1833) 5 B & Ad 1, 110 ER 692; Acton vBlundell (1843) 12 M & W324, 152 ER 1223; and Chasemore vRichards (1859) 7 HLC 349, 11 ER 140.However, long-spun doctrinal history is not his major concern. His point thatBlackstone writes about land ownership extending beneath ......
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Reviews
...cases such asMason vHill (1833) 5 B & Ad 1, 110 ER 692; Acton vBlundell (1843) 12 M & W324, 152 ER 1223; and Chasemore vRichards (1859) 7 HLC 349, 11 ER 140.However, long-spun doctrinal history is not his major concern. His point thatBlackstone writes about land ownership extending beneath ......
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Reviews
...cases such asMason vHill (1833) 5 B & Ad 1, 110 ER 692; Acton vBlundell (1843) 12 M & W324, 152 ER 1223; and Chasemore vRichards (1859) 7 HLC 349, 11 ER 140.However, long-spun doctrinal history is not his major concern. His point thatBlackstone writes about land ownership extending beneath ......