Common land and village greens

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Under the 1965 Commons Registration Act, Wiltshire Council is the Commons Registration Authority for the County of Wiltshire. Wiltshire County Council originally drew up the registers of Common Land and Town and Village Greens, and Wiltshire Council is now responsible for:

• Maintaining the register of Common Land.
• Maintaining the register of Town and Village Greens.
• Dealing with applications to register new Town and Village Greens.
• Processing applications to amend the registers.

If you would like to view the register of Common Land or the register of Town and Village Greens, you may do so free of charge at Wiltshire Council Offices.

Common land:

Commons are areas of land, usually in private ownership, which are subject to rights held by other individuals, for example the right for others to graze animals, collect firewood etc, over that land. These “rights of common” usually originate from local custom.

Following the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, areas of Common Land throughout England were mapped by Natural England and included as “access land” over which the public have had a right to walk freely (subject to certain restrictions)

You can view the open access land maps on the Natural England website

The Register of Common Land held by Wiltshire Council includes a description of each registered common, including a map; details of land ownership and the particulars of the rights of common.

Town and village greens:

A Town or Village Green is land over which a significant number of inhabitants of any locality have indulged as of right in lawful sports and pastimes on the land for a period of at least 20 years.

Applications to register land as a new town or village green can be made under Section 15 of the Commons Act 2006.

You can see a list of current applications being dealt with by Wiltshire Council on the Rights of Way village greens and common land applications search

Related information

• Applications to register a town or village green

Related links

Detailed information regarding Common Land and Town and Village Greens can be found on the following sites:

• The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(DEFRA)
• Open Spaces Society

Last updated: 13 July 2011