Public Access to Common Land
Background
Pressure to establish a legal right of public access on common land was precipitated by the agricultural inclosure movement which intensified in the mid 18th century. This saw the enclosure of large tracts of land and an accompanying loss of public access over them.
Public and political pressure for a right of access continued until the implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW Act) which led to a right of access over almost all common land.
The second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th saw a gradual increase in legal access to common land as a result of vigorous campaigning from access groups such as the Commons Preservation Society (now the Open Spaces Society).
The main breakthrough was the 1925 Law of Property Act which provided for access to approximately 20% of common land in England. The second half of the 20th century saw no further extension of legal access to common land despite the findings of the 1958 Royal Commission, which recommended a general public right of access to common lands.
However, most common land in England had been subject to de facto access throughout the 20th century, often for a far greater variety of recreational activity than that subsequently established by de jure (legal) access.
The development of legal rights of access on common land
Although legislation dating to the late 16th century required that common and waste land should be left open for the recreation of Londoners, the main push for a legal right of access to common land began in the mid-19th century. Click below to find out more about this development.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act of 2000 (CRoW) greatly increased the extent of public access to common land and finally delivered the recommendations of the 1958 Royal Commission. It should be noted, however, that in many areas the de facto rights of access enjoyed by the public were far in excess of the rights granted by CRoW in 2000.
For example, on many upland commons there is access to crags for rock climbing, tarns for swimming and wild camping is generally accepted. For more information, click below.
Public Rights of Way
In addition to access rights on common land granted by the various statutes listed above and by the CRoW Act, many commons are also crossed by public rights of way. These are linear routes. For more information, click below.
Further information and signposting
Open Access Contact Centre Natural England Block 3 Government Buildings Burghill Road Westbury on Trym Bristol BS10 6NJ, Tel: 0845 1003298, Email: enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk
Land Managers’ Guidance Pack available on the Natural England website.
Angela Sydenham, Public Rights of Way and Access to Land (Jordans, 2007).
Paul Clayden, Our Common Land: the law and history of common land and village greens (Henley-on-Thames: Open Spaces Society, 2003).
G. D. Gadsden, The Law of Commons (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 1988).
To view judgement in R v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regionsex parte Billson (1998) and Bakewell Management Ltd v Brandwood and Others (2004) visit the Defra commons web site, court judgements section