Loss of Commons

Approvement - The Statutes of Merton (1235) and Westminster (1285)

The Statutes of Merton and Westminster enshrined the customary entitlement of the owners of the soil to any surplus grazing on their common land. Surplus meant grazing over and above that required to satisfy the commoners’ rights. The Statute of Merton gave owners a right to “inclose” or “approve” such excess land. By the same token the Statute enshrined an obligation on common owners to provide land to enable commoners’ rights to be exercised.

Loss of common land through approvement was a steady process throughout medieval and later times although it gradually ceased with the introduction of legislation in the 19th century particularly the Law of Commons Amendment Act 1813 which required Secretary of State consent for further approvement. Consent would only be granted if it could be shown that the proposed approvement would be of benefit to the neighbourhood.

Loss by agreement

Much common land was lost by agreement between the owner and commoners during the era of agricultural improvement in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Inclosure

The inclosure of land to enable increased agricultural productivity was greatly facilitated by a plethora (4,000) of individual inclosure acts which gave commoners only limited rights. There was also a series of national inclosure acts most notably the Inclosure Act 1845. This provided that the lord of the manor, commoners and tithe owner (where not the owner), of a common subject to inclosure would each receive a freehold parcel of land by way of compensation for the loss of right.

In addition it required that commissioners considered setting aside an area of land for communal use such as recreation, the erection of a poor house or for wood fuel.

Stealth

Much common land has been lost by encroachment and illegal fencing subsequent to the introduction of legislation to prevent it. Considerable areas of waste land were never registered as common land in 1965 because rights over it were treated as leased rights rather than rights in common in perpetuity.