Abstract

This article investigates aspects of the law of fixtures: items of personal property which have been attached to land in such a way that they have become part of it. The question of whether a chattel has become a fixture can be relevant in a number of contexts, including disputes between vendors and purchasers of land, between heirs and executors of land-owners, and between mortgagors and mortgagees of land. The article looks at the origins (both in Roman and in English law) of the classic tests formulated in the 19th century case of Holland v Hodgson—the ‘degree of annexation’ and the ‘object of annexation’—and traces the development of these in English law from the early 16th century to the end of the 19th century. The writer explores the contribution made to the law by early textbook writers, argues that the case-law does not show the smooth progression that has been claimed for it, and suggests how some of the confusion in the modern law of fixtures has arisen