Common land is land owned by one person over which another person is entitled to exercise 'rights of common'.
'Rights of common' are legal rights that people (the 'commoners') who live in a certain area are entitled to, which can include:
- grazing sheep or cattle - herbage
- taking peat or turf - turbary
- taking wood, gorse or furze - estovers
- taking of fish - piscary
- eating of acorns or beechmast by pigs - pannage
There is a misconception that common land is owned by the public and anyone has a right to enter. This is not necessarily so, and it was not until the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 was passed that the public were granted legal right of access (on foot only) to registered common land.
Common Land in England is a searchable database of all parcels of common land in England, sourced from HM Land Registry.
View areas of Common land and village greens in York on the YorkView map by selecting 'Common Land and Village Greens' under the 'EU INSPIRE Directive' layer. An authenticated copy of the official register and map can be obtained for £31.20 (inc. VAT) for each area of enquiry.
- Town and village greens
- Our responsibility as the Commons Registration Authority
- Status of recent registration applications
Town and village greens
Town or village greens share a similar history to common land but are defined separately for the purposes of the Commons Registration Act 1965.
Town or village greens are usually 'areas of land within defined settlements or geographical areas on which local inhabitants have indulged in lawful sports and pastimes for 20 years or more, as of right', such as:
- organised or ad-hoc games
- picnics
- fêtes
Whilst town or village green land may be privately owned, many greens are owned and maintained by local parish or community councils. Some greens may also have 'rights of common' covering them.
Our responsibility as the Commons Registration Authority
As the Commons Registration Authority, we are responsible for maintaining registers of common land and town and village greens for the City of York area.
For further information see:
- Common land and town and village green registers
- Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013
- Part 1 regulation implementation
For any new applications, you should complete an application to register land as a town or village green in accordance with the Commons Act 2006 Section 15.
Status of recent registration applications
Holgate Community Garden and Play Park
- received 14 September 2016
- taken to the Gambling Licensing & Regulatory Committee on 13 March 2017
- resolution: application was not successful