





















1671
1723
1817
Seditious Meetings Act, 10 March 1817
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1817/mar/10/seditious-meetings-bill
1830
Royal Proclamation against Swing riots and trade disturbances, 1830
1832
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
1833
1833 Select Committee on Public Walks
https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1833/feb/21/public-health
1836
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
1845
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
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
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
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
1863 Town Garden Protection Act
brought 11 London squares under the oversight of the Metropolitan Board of Works.
1865
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
1866
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
1876
Kyrle Society formed
https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/43789996.pdf
Charity Organisation Review
New Series, Vol. 18, No. 108 (DECEMBER 1905), pp. 314-319
1876
1878
Corporation of London (Open Spaces) Act 1878
1880
Committee for Securing Open Spaces formed
1881
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
1882
Metropolitan Public Garden Boulevard and Playground Association formed
1884
1887
1888
1893
Barbed Wire Act 1893
1899
1906
1906
1908
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
1922
Law of Property Act 1922
abolished copyhold and customary tenancies
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/12-13/16/contents
1925
1931
1938
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
1939 Access to the Mountains Act
See John Sheail, ‘The Acc ss to Mountains Act 1939: An Essay in Compromise’, Rural History, 21: 1 (2010)
1945
1947
1949
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)
1965
1981
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.