The yellow wash on these maps shows areas of open country and registered common land (see footnote for detailed explanation).
The Open Access rights are now in force across the whole of England.
There may be some excepted land within the yellow access land: the new rights will not apply on these areas. The new rights will also be subject to various national and local restrictions. Watch out for local notices about such exceptions and restrictions.
The new rights cover most recreational activities carried out on foot, including walking, sightseeing, bird-watching, climbing and running. Dogs are generally welcome to accompany their owners but owners should be aware of when they have to keep their animals on leads and when specific exclusions are applied to dogs.
Visitors to access land are responsible for their own safety, and for taking care of any children or dogs who accompany them. Always behave with consideration for others and follow The Countryside Code.
More information on
Footnote
Registered common land
Registered common land is land registered under the Commons Registration Act 1965. It is often privately owned (e.g. by the lord of the manor), but has the status of common land because of the historic rights that certain local properties had to graze stock, collect wood etc there. Some of these old rights still exist, while others have long ceased to be exercised.
The official registers of common land are held by county councils and equivalent local authorities. The same authorities hold separate registers of town and village greens, but greens are legally distinct from commons, and are not affected by the new access arrangements unless they have been mapped as open country.
Open country
Open country consists mainly of mountain, moor, heath and down. In simple terms:
·mountain is land above 600 metres;
·moor means areas of heather or unimproved grassland or bog, usually in hill areas;
·heath means lowland areas with poor, often sandy soil supporting heathery vegetation and scrub or trees; and
·down means unimproved grassland in areas of chalk or limestone geology, often with scattered scrub or trees.
For our full working definitions and for further information, please see the Mapping Methodology we used to compile the maps.