Kent pensioners sue Environment Agency for £4.5m over damage to historic royal home King’s Lodging where Henry VIII stayed

A retired couple, King Henry VIII. He is suing the Environment Agency for £4.5 million over severe damp problems at his historic riverside homes, the Tudor royal residence where Henry VIII inspected his fleet before sailing for France.

The case, currently being heard in the Upper Tribunal in London, concerns Phase II of flood defense work carried out by the agency. It focuses on allegations of causing catastrophic damage to listed property.

Roger and Suzanne Brookhouse, amateur historians, bought King’s Lodging in Sandwich, Kent, in 1991.

The timber-framed medieval house on the banks of the River Stour was particularly popular with King Henry VIII of France, who was preparing to sail to the summit of the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 with King Francis of France. It has a rich history, being home to Henry VIII.

Although quite old, the property was deemed to be in “satisfactory” condition in 2013. But the couple claim subsequent flood defense works by the Environment Agency led to a significant increase in groundwater levels, resulting in widespread dampness, cracked and bulging walls and a dilapidated garden.

His lawyers told the judge that the house “has suffered more in the last few years than it has in the last few hundred years.”

The £4.5m claim includes significant sums to repair the house and resolve groundwater issues, as well as around £1.3m to restore their previously “thriving” garden and replace the outdoor swimming pool, which they claim has been damaged beyond repair by river water in the surrounding soil.

While the Environment Agency accepts its obligation to pay compensation, it disputes the amount claimed, arguing that it is “excessive and disproportionate”. The agency highlights that the £4.5 million compensation claim is more than double the property’s maximum estimated value of £1.9 million.

This week’s trial followed a 2023 ruling in which a judge found the agency liable for the damage and concluded that the agency’s work did indeed cause higher groundwater levels. In that earlier decision, Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Cooke described the property’s storied history and recent poor condition.

“In 1520 King Henry VIII stood at the window of the building now known as the King’s Lodgings at Sandwich to inspect his fleet before sailing for the Field of the Cloth of Gold,” Judge Cooke wrote. he said.

“Viewed from the same window today, the most notable feature is the wall between the property and the River Stour, built by the Environment Agency as part of the Sandwich Town Tidal Defense Scheme. The plaintiffs, Mr and Mrs Brookhouse, are the owners of The King’s Lodging and say their property has been and will continue to be damaged by rising groundwater levels resulting from the defendant’s works.”

The property had long been separated from the river by a wall, but in 2014 the authority built a new wall one meter from the river and filled the area with drainage material.

Following this the Brookhouses reported regular water entering their garden and Mr Brookhouse said it had never been a “swamp” before.

Videos presented to the court showed water seeping through the new wall, and in one incident in 2019, river water appeared to be seeping along the entire 53-metre length of the garden.

While a pre-work survey revealed the 15th- or early 16th-century timber-framed house was in a “satisfactory” condition with only minor cracks and damp, the couple claim that since the work the cracks have widened, the paint and plasterwork has deteriorated and part of the front of the house is now “leaning outwards”.

They claim that the increase in groundwater means the house now stands on wet ground, causing ongoing and future damage. Its once “thriving” gardens are now uncultivable due to water levels and salinity, and its 1980s swimming pools are beyond repair due to concrete movement.

Judge Cooke ruled in the couple’s favor after hearing expert evidence, confirming that groundwater levels had risen by up to one meter following the agency’s work. He concluded: “The building at The King’s Lodging has been damaged by the defendant’s work and will be further damaged in the future.”

James Pereira KC, who represented the couple in court this week, claimed £4.5 million in damages to cover the cost of remediating the damage and the rise in groundwater.

“The building appears to have suffered more damage in the last few years than it has in the last few centuries,” the judge told Cooke.

He emphasized the couple’s determination to restore their home, describing them as “custodians of this special place” with a “unique property” of national interest.

Mr Pereira suggested installing sheet pilings connected to the agency’s floodwall, along with drainage valves, as “the only adequately designed and costed proposal” for a “long-term sustainable future”.

But Galina Ward KC, of ​​the Environment Agency, said Brookhouses’ claims were excessive and lacked sufficient evidence.

“The evidence of experts commissioned on behalf of the agency shows that the extensive work proposed by the claimants is not necessary and further that the cost of any work required would be much less than claimed by the claimants,” he said.

Ms Ward added that the agency always tries to deal fairly with claimants and accepts compensation for garden and home damage. He suggested the damage could be managed through the “usual process of repair and maintenance” and that any intervention to reduce groundwater should be “as cautious as possible”.

He also argued that his request to replace the swimming pool should have been rejected in 2014 on the grounds that it was “nearing the end of its useful life”.

The case, which now focuses only on determining the amount of compensation, continues.