Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall purchased the Newton Park Estate, which included much property in the village, following the death of 5th Earl Temple in 1941. Together with the adjacent Manor of Inglescombe (Englishcombe) that the Duchy already owned, this created the Duchy's largest estate outside Dartmoor.
The Duchy's largest rural portfolio office is in the village. This is the headquarters of the eastern district, covering Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, the centralised finance and property services office, and the Estate Surveyor office.
Plans by the Duchy to build 2,000 houses on greenfield land between the village and the outskirts of Bath have caused controversy. A regional strategy had identified the Duchy's site as an area for development, however after the United Kingdom general election, 2010 this was revised and Bath and North East Somerset Council changed its decision about the development, ruling that it should not go ahead on environmental grounds. The Duchy is likely to challenge the decision at a public inquiry during 2011.
Read more about this topic: Newton St Loe