Common Land

Of the heather moorland in England and Wales, about 30 percent (125,000 hectares) is common land. Most of this lies in Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Wales and Dartmoor. The term 'common' is often misunderstood and wrongly thought to mean that the land belongs to everyone or that everyone has access to it. It is not owned by everyone, although the Countryside and Rights Of Way (CROW) Act has entitled people to have access to common land for quiet recreation. In other respects the rights to use a common at present are very specific and normally go with nearby farm holdings, or perhaps a household. They are not rights for the public in general. Examples of common rights are grazing of animals -known as 'herbage' -and digging of peat as a fuel for domestic use - 'turbary'.

Common rights usually go back hundreds of years and stem from a time before land was enclosed. Then, any land which was not worked or was used collectively by people in the locality was known as common land, although it still had an owner.

In the 18th and 19th Centuries most of the common land which provided good grazing was enclosed (marked out, awarded to an individual and fenced). This was done using Acts of Parliament called Enclosure Acts.

In the uplands, many areas were never enclosed and continued in the ownership of the Lord of the Manor who developed them partly as grouse moors and partly as controlled cattle and sheep grazing areas. Here, the ancient rights and traditions have remained. Nowadays, registered rights are not always exercised, but they nevertheless exist.

On commons, special rules apply to the way in which the land can be used. For example, the owner cannot build or erect fences on it, except by special permission of the Secretary of State for the Environment. However, the owner is allowed to fence on the edge of the common or between commons.

A moorland owner cannot change the use or management of a common if it prevents other rights holders from exercising their particular rights, unless they give their agreement. This stops anything happening which would be a disadvantage to other rights holders. But it can also cause problems especially where special management is needed to maintain the moorland habitat.

Metropolitan or Urban Commons

In 1925, the Law of Property Act provided a general right of public access to metropolitan and urban commons. This has led to considerable confusion. To find out whether an area is affected, you firstly have to know whether the land in question was part of a Metropolitan Police District or lay within a Borough or Urban District in 1925. This can produce surprising results. For example, a large part of the Lake District - though it is clearly not an urban area - fell within the terms of the Act. This is because the Lake District commons concerned lay within a relevant administrative area in 1925. However, most moorlands where agriculture is the established use, are not affected.

Rights and responsibilities

As with all other land types, only the owner of heather moorland has the right to undertake its management. Where alteration to the management of a common is required, this is often achieved through sensible co-operation between the owner and the common rights holders.

The laws applying to rights of way, highways and access to land are exactly the same on all moorland as they are on any other land, although, with the passage of the CROW Act, and completion of mapping, public access has been given to mountain, moor, heath, down and common land. Prior to this, public access was confined to public rights of way, but the very nature of moorland, with its huge vistas, still enabled appreciation of vast areas from established paths, tracks and vantage points. It is hoped, in the interests of nature conservation, especially during the nesting and fledging seasons, that most people will continue to use roads, tracks and paths when crossing moorland.