21. The rule in Rylands v Fletcher

The rule

In Rylands v Fletcher, water from the defendants' reservoir burst through old mine shafts and flooded the claimant's mine. Blackburn J said that a person who, for his own purposes, brings onto his land and keeps there anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, must keep it in at his peril, and is liable for all the damage which is the natural consequence of its escape. The House of Lords agreed, adding that the use must be 'non-natural'.

The elements

Bringing onto land: The defendant must bring something onto the land and keep it there. Things naturally there, like rainwater or rocks, are not covered (though nuisance may apply).

Dangerous thing: The thing must be likely to cause harm if it escapes. Today it must pose an exceptionally high risk: Transco v Stockport.

Non-natural use: The use must be special and unusual, bringing increased danger, not the ordinary use of land. A domestic water supply is natural use: Rickards v Lothian.

Escape: The thing must escape from land the defendant controls to a place outside it. In Read v Lyons there was no escape when an explosion injured a worker inside the factory.

Foreseeable damage: The damage must be of a kind that was foreseeable: Cambridge Water v Eastern Counties Leather. The claimant should usually have an interest in land, as the rule is a branch of nuisance.

Defences

Consent: Where the claimant agreed to the dangerous thing being there, especially for common benefit: Peters v Prince of Wales Theatre.

Act of a stranger: Where an unforeseeable act of a third party caused the escape: Box v Jubb; Rickards v Lothian.

Act of God: Natural forces no human could foresee or guard against: Nichols v Marsland. Courts apply this narrowly.

Claimant's default and statutory authority: Where the claimant's own fault caused the damage, or where statute authorised the activity.

Rylands today

English courts have narrowed the rule, treating it as a special kind of nuisance for isolated escapes. These decisions are persuasive in Sierra Leone. The rule remains important for activities like storing fuel, chemicals in mining, and large dams, where an escape could cause great harm to neighbours.