timeline

1723 Waltham Forest Black Act

1723: 9 George 1 c.22: The Black Act

Seditious Meetings Act, 10 March 1817

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1817/mar/10/seditious-meetings-bill

Royal Proclamation against Swing riots and trade disturbances, 1830

1832 Prescription Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Will4/2-3/71/contents

acquisition of a right through long use – claims to rights of common and other profits a prendre after 60 years;

rights of way or easement 20 to 40 years

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/easements-claimed-by-prescription/practice-guide-52-easements-claimed-by-prescription 

1833 Select Committee on Public Walks

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1833/feb/21/public-health

1836 Inclosure Act 6 & 7 Will IV c115

common fields exempted from enclosure if they lay within 10 miles of London or 3 miles of a town of over 100,000 population

General Inclosure Act 1845

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/8-9/118

if the commons were within 4 miles distance of large towns, and 15 miles of London, a proportion of the enclosed land had to be set out for recreation

10 acres above 10,000 population

8 above 5 to 10,000

5 above 2 to 5000

4 under 2000

1847 Town Improvement Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/10-11/34/contents

consolidated provisions previously in local acts for improvement and simplified procedures for local authorities to acquire land for parks etc, provided the site was no moer than 3 miles from the principal market or the commissioners’ office.

1859 Recreation Grounds Act 20 Vic c27

land not exceeding £1000 could be bequeathed for the purpose of providing public recreation grounds and playgrounds

1860 23 and 24 Vic c30 Public Improvement Act

local authorities could levy rates to a max of 6d in the pound provided 2/3 ratepayers agreed to maintain land for public walks and recreation; half the cost had to be raised by subscription.

1863 Town Garden Protection Act

brought 11 London squares under the oversight of the Metropolitan Board of Works.

Commons Preservation Society formed

https://www.oss.org.uk/who-we-are/about-us/

https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/2fd7ff41-f2e7-394d-bf11-74d2a5e53a73

Metropolitan Commons Act 29 and 30 Vic c122

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/29-30/122/contents

all commons within 15 miles of centre of London protected and regulated

Kyrle Society formed

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/43789996.pdf

Commons Act 1876

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/39-40/56/contents

1877 Open Spaces (Metropolis) Act

Corporation of London (Open Spaces) Act 1878

Committee for Securing Open Spaces formed

Metropolitan Open Spaces Act

enabled grounds to be transferred to local authorities for use as a public garden

debate in parliament – https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1906/jul/30/open-spaces-bill

Metropolitan Public Garden Boulevard and Playground Association formed

http://www.mpga.org.uk/

https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/visitor-information/Documents/56-records-of-gardening-and-parks-and-open-spaces-in-london-metropolitan-archives.pdf

1884 Disused Burial Grounds Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/47-48/72/contents

1887 Open Spaces Act

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/50-51/32/contents/enacted

1888 Footpaths and Roadsides Wastes bill

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1888/may/04/footpaths-and-roadside-wastes-bill

https://www.oss.org.uk/about-us/our-history/saving-open-spaces-preserving-public-paths/  

Barbed Wire Act 1893

Commons Act 1899

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/62-63/30/contents

1906 Open Spaces Act

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw7/6/25

1906 Crown Lands Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw7/6/28/enacted

1908 Commons Act

made provision for agricultural management to control the turning out of animals onto common land

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw7/8/44/contents

Law of Property Act 1922

abolished copyhold and customary tenancies

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/12-13/16/contents

1925 Law of Property Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/15-16/20

London Squares Preservation Act

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1931/dec/08/schedule#S5CV0260P0_19311208_HOC_5

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1931/jul/27/part-ii#S5LV0081P0_19310727_HOL_22

1938 Street Playgrounds Act

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1938/mar/31/street-playgrounds-bill

repealed in 1960

see also the 1967 Road Traffic Regulation Act – http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1967/76/crossheading/street-playgrounds/enacted

1939 Access to the Mountains Act

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1939/jun/06/access-to-mountains-bill#S5LV0113P0_19390606_HOL_261

See John Sheail, ‘The Acc ss to Mountains Act 1939: An Essay in Compromise’, Rural History, 21: 1 (2010)

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/rural-history/article/abs/access-to-mountains-act-1939-an-essay-in-compromise/92897BD29886BB4AA9E02C4F9E7CDAA8  

Requisitioned Land and War Works Act 1945

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1947/dec/16/requisitioned-land-and-war-works-bill

https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/198776286/Full_text_PDF_accepted_author_manuscript_.pdf

10 & 11 Geo. VI c. 51

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1947/51/enacted

1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/12-13-14/97 

See Gavin Parker &Neil Ravenscroft, ‘Benevolence, nationalism and hegemony: fifty years of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949′, Leisure Studies, 18: 4 (1999)

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/026143699374871 

Commons Registration Act 1965

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1965/64

1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act

considered a significant achievement and gave new political coherence to the policies and practices of nature conservation in Britain. By the end of the decade, some 8% of the land area of Britain was covered by an SSSI designation.

Carolyn M. Harrison and Jacquelin Burgess, ‘Social constructions of nature: a case study of conflicts over the development of Rainham Marshes’, Trans. Inst. Brit. Geog, 19: 3 (1994), 293.

1986 Public Order and Criminal Justice Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/64 

Town and Country Planning Act 1990

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/contents

1994 Public Order and Criminal Justice Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/contents 

https://www.cps.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/legal_guidance/THE-CRIMINAL-JUSTICE-AND-PUBLIC-ORDER-ACT-1994.pdf 

2002 Land Registration Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/9/contents