Neighbour Dispute - Boundary
My property had an 18th century haha running along one boundary of my garden. The haha also continued past our property along our neighbour's boundary.
Because of its age, the brickwork was in need of repair although it it still retained the earth behind it and the ditch was still functioning to keep out livestock. My neighbour also owns the adjacent field which abuts the haha.
To repair the haha would have taken tens of thousands of pounds and we preferred to have the feature in its less than perfect state rather than not at all.
My neighbour however, took a different view and said that we had a week to repair it or he would bulldoze it and fill in the ditch. His reason was that he didn't want his visitors or his family seeing 'such a mess'.
He also insisted on taking our boundary back about half a meter beacause he said that the brickwork would have been sloped back, not vertical when it was originally built. Most of the hahas I have seen have been vertical.
We protested that it wasn't his property to take such action with, but he went ahead as he had threatened. I wrote to him confirming that we did not agree with his action. His verbal reply was that he would dig a new ditch at any time if we would like to build a new haha.
We cannot afford to build a new haha but this feature was an asset to our property and at some future date could have provided us or a new owner with the opportunity to make repair and preserve a part of our property's history.
What action should I have taken?
Can any action be taken now, about 8 years since the incident?
On the face of these facts it
On the face of these facts it seems your neighbour has destroyed your wall and occupied part of your land. This is a continuing trespass entitling you to claim damages but more importantly you should seek to recover the land your neighbour has taken.
You still have time to take action since the limitation period for recovery of land is 12 years from the cause of action.
Assuming this is registered land once your neighbour had occupied it for 10 years he could apply to the Land Registry to remove you as the registered owner in favour of him. However, this process would require notice to be given to you. You would be entitled to object.