Equestrian Commons

Commons with Equestrian Access

Section 193(1) of the Law of Property Act 1925 established that members of the public would have a right of access for air and exercise on any land which is:
   a metropolitan common within the meaning of the Metropolitan Commons Acts 1866 to 1898, or
   manorial waste, or
   a common, which is wholly or partly situated within an area which immediately before 1st April 1974 was a borough or urban district.

Legislation

Section 193(2) provided that the lord of the manor or other person entitled to the soil of any land subject to rights of common may by deed, revocable or irrevocable, declare that this section shall apply to the land, and upon such deed being deposited with the Minister the land shall, so long as the deed remains operative, be land to which this section applies.

Public Rights

The right of access for air and exercise was subject to any Act, scheme, or provisional order for the regulation of the land, and to any byelaw, regulation or order made thereunder or under any other statutory authority.

The right did not extend to draw or drive upon the land a carriage, cart, caravan, truck, or other vehicle. This means that the rights on s.193 commons relate to access on foot and access on horse, and the access by horse was confirmed by the High Court in R v Secretary of State for the Environment Ex Parte Billson [1998] EWHC Admin 189, [1998] 3 WLR 1240. See para 78.