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The impact of commons registration: a Norfolk study

The impact of commons registration: a Norfolk study This paper explores the purpose, process, and legacy of commons registration, the result of which was the creation of the county registers routinely used by historians as an index to surviving commons. In so doing, this research attempts to assess the degree of continuity between what is recorded in the registers and historic common land. The study begins with a brief review of the history of common land with an emphasis on the legal and perceptual changes that have occurred since enclosure. From the mid-nineteenth century most people came to consider common land less an agricultural appurtenance and more as areas of open space to which everyone had common access. At the same time, legal definitions shifted away from using common rights to define common land and towards other criteria that encompassed open, neglected or uncommitted sites. As it was this category of land at which the Commons Registration Act was aimed, it is not surprising that the already loosening legal definitions relaxed still further, which, together with a registration procedure so streamlined that very little existed by way of a screen against unsuitable nominations, meant that any kind of land could conceivably become common. Norfolk's commons registers record the existence of 346 commons and 146 village greens, now the only land legally common in the county. A careful look reveals that this list includes many poor allotments (charity land usually dating from enclosure), public pits, traffic islands, and other open land of questionable origin. In fact, less than 25 per cent of Norfolk's registered common land would have satisfied that definition before 1965. Nevertheless, despite their being of limited value as a guide to the survival of historic commons, the registers do put forward a special variety of landscape set apart by the mere accident of registration. As such, statutory common land presents new challenges for both historians and conservationists. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Landscape History Taylor & Francis

The impact of commons registration: a Norfolk study

Birtles, Sara
Landscape History , Volume 20 (1): 15 – Jan 1, 1998
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
2160-2506
eISSN
0143-3768
DOI
10.1080/01433768.1998.10594504
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper explores the purpose, process, and legacy of commons registration, the result of which was the creation of the county registers routinely used by historians as an index to surviving commons. In so doing, this research attempts to assess the degree of continuity between what is recorded in the registers and historic common land. The study begins with a brief review of the history of common land with an emphasis on the legal and perceptual changes that have occurred since enclosure. From the mid-nineteenth century most people came to consider common land less an agricultural appurtenance and more as areas of open space to which everyone had common access. At the same time, legal definitions shifted away from using common rights to define common land and towards other criteria that encompassed open, neglected or uncommitted sites. As it was this category of land at which the Commons Registration Act was aimed, it is not surprising that the already loosening legal definitions relaxed still further, which, together with a registration procedure so streamlined that very little existed by way of a screen against unsuitable nominations, meant that any kind of land could conceivably become common. Norfolk's commons registers record the existence of 346 commons and 146 village greens, now the only land legally common in the county. A careful look reveals that this list includes many poor allotments (charity land usually dating from enclosure), public pits, traffic islands, and other open land of questionable origin. In fact, less than 25 per cent of Norfolk's registered common land would have satisfied that definition before 1965. Nevertheless, despite their being of limited value as a guide to the survival of historic commons, the registers do put forward a special variety of landscape set apart by the mere accident of registration. As such, statutory common land presents new challenges for both historians and conservationists.

Journal

Landscape History – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jan 1, 1998

Keywords: Commons; Norfolk

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