Common land

Common land is land owned collectively by a number of persons, or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel.

A person who has a right in, or over, common land jointly with another or others is called a commoner.

This article deals mainly with common land in England, Wales and Scotland. Although the extent is much reduced due to enclosure of common land from the millions of acres that existed until the 17th century., a considerable amount of common land still exists, particularly in upland areas, and there are over 7,000 registered commons in England alone.

Common land or former common land is usually referred to as a common; for instance, Clapham Common or Mungrisdale Common.

Historical origins

Originally in medieval England the common was an integral part of the manor, and was thus part of the estate held by the lord of the manor under a feudal grant from the Crown or a superior peer, who in turn held his land from the Crown which owned all land. This manorial system, founded on feudalism, granted rights of land use to different classes. These would be appurtenant rights, that is the ownership of rights belonged to tenancies of particular plots of land held within a manor. A commoner would be the person who, for the time being, was the occupier of a particular plot of land. Some rights of common were said to be in gross, that is, they were unconnected with tenure of land. This was more usual in regions where commons are more extensive, such as in the high ground of Northern England or on the Fens, but also included many village greens across England and Wales. Most land with appurtenant commons rights is adjacent to the common or even surrounded by it, but in a few cases it may be some considerable distance away.