The Preservation of Open Spaces, and of Footpaths, and Other Rights of Way
A Practical Treatise on the Law of the Subject

First published in 1896, this work is an expert account of the nineteenth-century state of the laws relevant to preservation.

Robert Hunter (Author)

9781108036740, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 October 2011

454 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.6 cm, 0.57 kg

Sir Robert Hunter (1844–1913) became a leading legal authority on common land. As solicitor to the Commons Preservation Society, where he first met Octavia Hill, he was instrumental in saving Hampstead Heath, Epping Forest and the New Forest for the nation, and he developed the principles of protection upon which the National Trust would be founded. First published in 1896, and informed by a lifetime of experience, this work was devised specifically to instruct 'those who are interested in preserving the open lands of the country'. Covering iconic English landscapes ranging from cliff tops to forests and from village greens to allotments, each chapter explores real cases and the statutes that shaped their conclusions. The result is an account of the nineteenth-century legal developments that provided the foundations which both government and charitable bodies have since used in preserving the heritage - both natural and man-made - of the nation.

Preface
List of cases
List of statutes
Table of abbreviations
Part I. Of Commons and Other Open Spaces: 1. Of the nature of a common and the rights thereon
2. Of the inclosure of a manorial common by the Lord of the Manor
3. Of rights of common connected with the manorial system
4. Of rights of common not connected with the manorial system
5. Of common of estovers and common of turbary
6. Of rights of digging gravel and other species of sub-soil
7. Of rights of sole vesture and sole pasture
8. Of claims by the inhabitants of a district to enjoy rights on a common
9. Of the mode of ascertaining common rights, and of the loss or extinguishment thereof
10. Of the power of local authorities to prevent inclosures by the Lord of the Manor
11. Of the inclosure of a manorial common by way of copyhold grant
12. Of the disfigurement of a manorial common
and herein, of the powers of highway authorities
13. Of the inclosure of a manorial common by the authority of parliament
14. Of common fields, meadows, and pastures
15. Of the waste and commonable lands of a forest
16. Of village greens
17. Of fuel allotments and recreation grounds
18. Of exceptional provisions as to inclosure
19. Of the appropriation of common lands for the purposes of industrial undertakings
20. Of the regulation of commons as open spaces. I. Under the Metropolitan Commons Act
21. Of the regulation of commons as open spaces. II. Under the Commons Act, 1876
Part II. Of Footpaths and Other Rights of Way: 1. Of the nature of a footpath
2. Of the obstruction of footpaths
and, herein, of their dedication
3. Of the remedies for the obstruction of footpaths
4. Of the stoppage or diversion of a footpath by an order of Quarter Sessions
5. Of the repair of footpath
6. Of highways of an exceptional kind
7. Of roadside waste
8. Of fore-shore and cliffs
9. Of rivers and lake
Appendices
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB]