Alexander Darwall
{{Short description|British landowner and hedge fund manager (born 1963)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alexander Frederick Clifford Darwall
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| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1963|6}}{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Julian |title=The threat to camping on Dartmoor, explained |url=https://www.middevonadvertiser.co.uk/news/the-threat-to-camping-on-dartmoor-explained-584979 |access-date=25 January 2023 |work=Mid Devon Advertiser |date=25 December 2022}}
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| occupation = Fund Manager
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| alma mater = University of Cambridge
}}
Alexander Frederick Clifford Darwall (born June 1963) is a British landowner and hedge fund manager. He has held roles in several large investment companies. He has made donations to UKIP and the Vote Leave campaign. In 2025, he lost a legal action to limit public access to his land in Dartmoor.
Education and early career
Darwall received a degree in History from the University of Cambridge.{{cite web |title=Alexander Darwall: Manager Profile |url=https://www2.trustnet.com/Tools/PDFViewer.aspx?url=%2fManagers%2fManagerFactsheetPDF.aspx%3fpersonCode%3d00000DAR01%26univ%3dU |website=www2.trustnet.com |publisher=trustnet.com |access-date=25 January 2023}}{{cite web |title=About Alexander Darwall |url=https://citywire.com/wealth-manager/manager/alexander-darwall/d775 |website=www.citywire.com |publisher=Citywire |access-date=25 January 2023}} He then trained as an investment analyst with de Zoete & Bevan (BZW). In 1987, Darwall moved to Paris to become head of the French equity research department for the Swedish group Enskilda Securities. In 1992, he joined Goldman Sachs as a French equity analyst.
Career
In 1995, Darwall joined Jupiter Fund Management. In November 2000, Jupiter European Opportunities was founded and Darwall became the lead portfolio manager. Darwall remained in this role until November 2019, when Jupiter European became European Opportunities Trust PLC, and Darwall stepped down as manager of both Jupiter European and the related Jupiter European Growth investment companies.{{Cite web |last=Lokhandwala |first=Taa |date=2019-04-03 |title=Alex Darwall steps down as manager of Jupiter European |url=https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/funds-etfs/2019/04/03/alex-darwall-steps-down-as-manager-of-jupiter-european/ |website=Investors' Chronicle}}
In 2019, he founded a company known as Devon Equity Management, whose aim is to "achieve long term capital growth by exploiting special investment opportunities in Europe". Darwall continues to manage the company.{{Cite web |title=Devon Equity Funds SICAV - European Opportunities I GBP Acc, LU2091191705:GBP summary - FT.com |url=https://markets.ft.com/data/funds/tearsheet/summary?s=LU2091191705:GBP |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=markets.ft.com}} Devon Equity Management invests on behalf of the European Opportunities Trust, as well as Luxembourg UCITS SICAV.{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.devonem.com/ |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=Devon Equity Management |language=en-GB}}
In June 2025, Darwall sold Devon Equity Management to River Global, owned by Martin Gilbert, for £2.46 million.{{Cite web |last=Hosking |first=Patrick |date=2025-06-30 |title=Star stockpicker Alexander Darwall sells fund for just £2.46m |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/star-stockpicker-alexander-darwall-sells-fund-for-just-246m-r9mpqnj75 |access-date=2025-06-30 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}} As part of the acquisition, Darwall will join River Global as co-head of European equities.
Land ownership
Darwall owns several large tracts of land across the UK. One of these is the 16,000 acre Sutherland Estate in Scotland, which he bought in November 2016 for around £5 million.{{Cite web |title=Landowners panned for charging those in search of a little pot of gold |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15885369.landowners-panned-charging-search-little-pot-gold/ |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=HeraldScotland |date=20 January 2018 |language=en}} He and his wife entered the national news in 2018 after they started charging gold panners £10 per day, limiting their access area, and limiting their time to two weeks per year, as people were selling the gold, which is not something they believe should be permitted.
= Dartmoor =
Darwall has owned the 4,000 acre Blachford Estate in Dartmoor since 2011.{{Cite web |date=2022-12-13 |title=Legal right to wild camp on Dartmoor never existed, court hears |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/13/landowners-lawyer-says-there-has-never-been-legal-right-to-wild-camp-on-dartmoor |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} This makes him the sixth largest landowner on Dartmoor.{{cite news |last1=Horton |first1=Helena |title=Dartmoor landowner who won wild camping ban may be putting rare beetle at risk |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/21/dartmoor-landowner-who-won-wild-camping-ban-may-be-putting-rare-beetle-at-risk |access-date=25 January 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=21 January 2023}} Darwall's Blachford Estate received financial support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.{{Cite web |date=2016-10-15 |title=Blachford Estate |url=https://blachfordestate.com/farm/ |access-date=2023-01-13 |language=en}} In 2014, Darwall blocked the public from parking on or riding horses through a section of his land at New Waste.{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Andrew |title=NEW WASTE ACCESS AGREEMENT, CORNWOOD |url=http://www.moorlandramblers.org.uk/Images/20140422%20New%20Waste%20Briefing%20Note.pdf |publisher=Devon National Park Authority |access-date=25 January 2023}}
In 2022, he received media attention for challenging the widely held interpretation of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 as including a public right to wild camping on the moor. Historically, wild camping, where no damage has been caused, had been presumed lawful on Dartmoor. In January 2023, the High Court found in Darwall's favour, clarifying that there was no right to wild camp on Dartmoor without the landowner's permission; it was previously the only location in England and Wales where camping without the permission of the landowner was presumed to be legal.{{cite web |title=Right to wild camp in England lost in Dartmoor court case |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/13/dartmoor-estate-landowner-alexander-darwall-court-case-right-to-camp?CMP=share_btn_tw |website=The Guardian |access-date=13 January 2023 |date=13 January 2023}}Darwall and Darwall -v- Dartmoor National Park Authority [2023] EWHC 35 (Ch), [https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Darwall-v-DNPA-Final-Judgment-13-Jan-23.pdf Approved Judgment] and [https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Darwall-v-Dartmoor-National-Park-Authority-Judgment-Summary.pdf Judgment summary], High Court of Justice, 13 January 2023
Following the high court decision, Darwall and other landowners struck a deal with the Dartmoor National Park Authority, where they would be paid compensation in return for allowing wild camping on limited portions of their land. The deal was met with disapproval from Right to Roam campaigners. On 21 January 2023, a protest was organised on Darwall's land to protest the decision, with more than 3,000 people in attendance, making it one of the largest countryside access protests since the 1930s.{{cite news |last1=Wall |first1=Tom |title=Thousands march across Dartmoor to demand right to wild camp |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/21/thousands-march-across-dartmoor-to-demand-right-to-wild-camp |access-date=25 January 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=21 January 2023}} The park authority subsequently announced that it intended to appeal the High Court’s decision,{{cite web|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/dartmoor-wild-camping-ban-alexander-darwall-b2271183.html|first=Matt|last=Mathers|title=Tale of two tribes in Dartmoor wild camping row|work=The Independent|date=28 January 2023|access-date=28 January 2023}} which it subsequently won in a unanimous Court of Appeal ruling in July 2023, restoring access for wild campers.{{Cite news |last=Horton |first=Helena |date=2023-07-31 |title=Wild camping allowed on Dartmoor again after court appeal succeeds |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/31/wild-camping-dartmoor-court-appeal |access-date=2023-07-31 |issn=0261-3077}} Following the Court of Appeal ruling, in early 2024 Darwall challenged the decision to overturn the ban and moved for the case to be heard in the Supreme Court.{{cite news |last1=Horton |first1=Helena |title=Landowner's supreme court case threatens Dartmoor wild camping victory |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/10/landowners-supreme-court-case-threatens-dartmoor-wild-camping-victory |access-date=16 January 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=10 January 2024}}
In May 2025, Supreme Court judges unanimously rejected Darwall's appeal, basing their judgement around the Dartmoor by-law that states "the public shall have a right of access to the commons on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation". The judges said that references to open-air recreation were "open-ended and unqualified" and "naturally includes camping".{{Cite web |date=2025-05-21 |title=Supreme Court backs wild camping on Dartmoor |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwywwq5zkqwo |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
Darwall argued that his aim of his court action was to protect and preserve Dartmoor, its flora and fauna, and hollowing out the roll of landowners and farmers will not improve the vitality of Dartmoor.{{Cite web |date=2025-05-21 |title=Supreme Court backs wild camping on Dartmoor |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwywwq5zkqwo |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Local residents have previously raised concerns that Darwall's release of pheasants onto his Dartmoor estate was leading to the endangerment of ecological woodland which is habitat for the Blue Ground Beetle, found in only 15 sites across England and Wales.
Personal life
Darwall has donated £89,999 to the UK Independence Party, the Vote Leave campaign supporting a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, and the Conservatives between 2014 and 2019.{{Cite web |title=Search - The Electoral Commission |url=http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/?currentPage=1&rows=10&query=darwall |access-date=2023-03-01 |website=search.electoralcommission.org.uk}} Part of this money included a donation to Anthony Mangnall, the former Conservative MP for Totnes, Devon.
Darwall’s wife Diana is an expert on Chinese ceramics and values and auctions Chinese porcelain.{{cite news |last1=Lucas |first1=David |date=22 January 2023 |title=Dartmoor wild camping ban: Why gaining landowner's consent is 'reasonable' |url=https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/news-opinion/dartmoor-wild-camping-ban-gaining-8040273 |access-date=25 January 2023 |work=Plymouth Herald}}{{Cite journal |date=1998-06-29 |title=Secretarial: A woman of vase knowledge: Diana Darwall joined Sotheby's as a secretary. Now she values and auctions Chinese porcelain. She tells Nicola Venning about the lure of the Far East |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA76090002&sid=sitemap&v=2.1&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon~a6e7f37f&aty=open-web-entry |journal=The Guardian (London, England) |language=English}}{{Cite web |date=2021-12-15 |title=Chinese Porcelain: How to Build a Collection {{!}} Barnebys Magazine |url=https://www.barnebys.co.uk/blog/chinese-porcelain-how-to-build-a-collection |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=Barnebys.co.uk |language=en-GB}}