Ownership:
Having considered some aspects of the history of the Common we have not thought about who owns it; this is important as we think about the ecology of the Common in the future.
Contrary to popular belief a ‘common’ is not an area of land without an owner where anyone can wander at will. The concept of the common dates back to medieval times when the common was an integral part of the manor. As such it was part of the estate held under a feudal grant from the Crown, or a superior peer who in turn held the land from the Crown, who owned it (thanks to Wikipedia for the definition!). The manorial system was founded on a system of strict class feudalism with each class being granted specific rights. The lord of the manor granted tenancy rights of plots of his land to ‘commoners’ who had the right to occupy that piece of land ‘for the time being’.
Wareham Common was registered as common land under the terms of registration of the Commons Regulation Act 1965 and as far as I can tell the ownership rests with Rempstone Estate. The rights to graze are held by some named ‘commoners’; the legal text says that a commoner may “eat the grass through the mouths of his cattle.”! Cattle includes not only cows but also horses and donkeys but excludes bulls and stallions. Commoners are not entitled to ‘run’ dangerous or diseased animals on the common.
The granting of grazing rights is for agricultural purposes only and makes no provision for maintaining or protecting the overall natural ecology of the site.
Court Leet:
Wareham Court Leet is one of a handful of these ancient bodies still in existence. Established in the period after the Norman conquest of 1066 the Courts Leet were created to assist the lord of the manor exercise control over his serfdom. It appears that the Court Leet had three major functions:
A judicial role in administering justice on the lord’s estates and lands
A role kin to today’s trading standards to ensure the quality of goods being traded on the estate
To oversee the maintenance and use of common lands
The administration of justice has long since been administered by the State but each year the members of the Court Leet still visit the hostelries of the town to ensure the beer being sold is up to the required standards, to check the chimneys are safe and other regulatory functions. An arduous task, no doubt, but one the Court Leet seems reluctant to abandon!
Purpose 3 is the one that is of interest to the current day ecology of the Common. The Court Leet appoints various officers to carry out different responsibilities and one of the posts is that of the hayward who is responsible for "enclosures and fences"; that is the so-called "common land".
The above information comes from the Wareham town council website and I hope I have interpreted it correctly. Sadly, it does not list the current day post holders so I am not certain who the current hayward is but I believe it is a Mr Mike Baggs of West Mill Farm whose family have undertaken the role for many generations; my apologies if I have got that wrong.
Legalities:
From a report to the Court Leet summarising history and responsibilities of the court by a Mr H J S Clark, a one time steward of the court, (date unknown) some other interesting facts about the Common are revealed.
Firstly, the only rights provided for the use of the land is for grazing and the collection of hay. This effectively means it is private land which nominated people are permitted to 'run' cattle and horses on. There is no unlimited public access to the land other than by the public right of way that crosses it. In effect, no one has the right to walk their dog, or walk without a dog for that matter, anywhere on the common other than on the single right of way. The idea that common land is open to everyone is not so in law. However, it would appear that the landowner has never sought to enforce this restriction so it is not really an issue, just more of an interesting side note really.
There is a private right of way to West Mill which allows vehicles to access the Mill but no vehicles are allowed elsewhere on the common and only vehicles with business at the mill or the mill occupants may use the private right of way. No one should drive beyond the gate at the car park.
One point I do not understand is that the agreement seems to allow for ‘30’ runs as I am sure the herd of cows currently on the common is greater than 30; I estimate the herd at between 45 and 50.
Another point of interest is that the commoner with the most runs (11) is named as Mr John Baggs of West Mill Farm but the same person is also contracted to do maintenance work on the common, clearing scrub for example, and he is doing this on behalf of the Court Leet in his role as ‘hayward’. In other words, he is wearing two hats. This is not a problem of course, his two roles are clearly defined, but I just thought it was interesting.
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