| Wolvercote Common | |
|---|---|
 Looking across Wolvercote Common towards the village | |
  Wolvercote Common Location within Oxfordshire | |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Oxford |
| Postcode district | OX2 |
| Dialling code | 01865 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Wolvercote Commoners' Committee |
Wolvercote Common is an area of grassed common land north of Port Meadow in Oxford, England. [1] [2]
Wolvercote is a village in the City of Oxford on the northern edge of Wolvercote Common. [3] Wolvercote villagers have traditionally had rights on the common: horses and cattle are still grazed on Wolvercote Common and Port Meadow. The Common is part of the flood plain of the river Thames.
The common is separated from Wolvercote Green by the Cotswold Line railway (which forms the Common's eastern boundary) and the Oxford Canal. [4] The Common's western boundary is the river Thames (or Isis). The Common is roughly 50 hectares in extent, although the boundary with Port Meadow to the south is imprecisely defined by the Shiplake Ditch.
Grazing on the common was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. [5] Villagers in Wolvercote have had the right to pasture cows, geese, and horses on Wolvercote Common for many centuries. The rights were first confirmed in 1279. There have been many disputes concerning commoners' rights in the past. For example, in 1552, George Owen, owner of Wolvercote Manor and the mill, and physician to King Henry VIII, petitioned the King to prevent the Mayor of Oxford from enclosing this area. [3] Cripley Meadow to the south had previously been enclosed by the town. Enclosure would have prevented villagers from using the land for pasture. There were battles for commoners' rights in 1553, 1649, 1762, and 1843. [5] In 1892, there was an attempt to reduce Wolvercote Common by a small amount on its southern boundary. This caused a violent incident that became known as the Battle of Wolvercote.
The Wolvercote Commoners' Committee was established in 1929 to manage the common land and to preserve other amenities in the village. [5]
Along with Port Meadow and Wolvercote Green, Wolvercote Common has been a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) since 1955. [6]
The Commons Registration Act 1965 has affected villagers' rights to the land detrimentally. [5] Only houses registered at the time of the Act now have grazing rights attached, even if there is a change of ownership. In 1993, the Wolvercote Commoners' Committee resisted an attempt by Oxford City Council to take the common into its ownership.
Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated some 30 miles (48 km) south of London in the county of East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation of 732 feet (223 m) above sea level, its heights provide expansive vistas across the heavily wooded hills of the Weald to the chalk escarpments of the North Downs and South Downs on the horizon.
The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acres each, which were divided into many narrow strips of land. The strips or selions were cultivated by peasants, often called tenants or serfs. The holdings of a manor also included woodland and pasture areas for common usage and fields belonging to the lord of the manor and the religious authorities, usually Roman Catholics in medieval Western Europe. The farmers customarily lived in separate houses in a nucleated village with a much larger manor house and church nearby. The open-field system necessitated co-operation among the residents of the manor.
Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land could be either through a formal or informal process. The process could normally be accomplished in three ways. First there was the creation of "closes", taken out of larger common fields by their owners. Secondly, there was enclosure by proprietors, owners who acted together, usually small farmers or squires, leading to the enclosure of whole parishes. Finally there were enclosures by Acts of Parliament.
Epping Forest is a 2,400-hectare (5,900-acre) area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London built-up area. South of Chingford the forest narrows, and forms a green corridor that extends deep into East London, as far as Forest Gate; the Forest's position gives rise to its nickname, the Cockney Paradise. It is the largest forest in London.
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featuring in the Domesday Book.
Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel.
Wolvercote is a village that is part of the City of Oxford, England. It is about 3 miles (5 km) northwest of the city centre, on the northern edge of Wolvercote Common, which is itself north of Port Meadow and adjoins the River Thames.
Ham is a suburban district in Richmond, south-west London. It has meadows adjoining the River Thames where the Thames Path National Trail also runs. Most of Ham is in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and, chiefly, within the ward of Ham, Petersham and Richmond Riverside; the rest is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. The district has modest convenience shops and amenities, including a petrol station and several pubs, but its commerce is subsidiary to the nearby regional-level economic centre of Kingston upon Thames.
Port Meadow is a large meadow of open common land beside the River Thames to the north and west of Oxford, England.
In agriculture, a field is an area of land, enclosed or otherwise, used for agricultural purposes such as cultivating crops or as a paddock or other enclosure for livestock. A field may also be an area left to lie fallow or as arable land.
Laleham Burway is a 1.6-square-kilometre (0.62 sq mi) tract of water-meadow and former water-meadow between the River Thames and Abbey River in the far north of Chertsey in Surrey. Its uses are varied. Part is Laleham Golf Club. Semi-permanent park homes in the west forms residential development along with a brief row of houses with gardens against the Thames. A reservoir and water works is on the island.
The Charter of the Forest of 1217 is a charter that re-established for free men rights of access to the royal forest that had been eroded by King William the Conqueror and his heirs. Many of its provisions were in force for centuries afterwards. It was originally sealed in England by the young King Henry III, acting under the regency of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
Staines Moor is a 510.8-hectare (1,262-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey. It is part of the South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area
George Owen (1499–1558), from Oxford and Godstow, Oxfordshire, was an English royal physician and politician.
Aristotle Lane is a road in north Oxford, England.
Cripley Meadow lies between the Castle Mill Stream, a backwater of the River Thames, and the Cotswold Line railway to the east, and Fiddler's Island, on the main branch of the Thames to the west, in Oxford, England. It is to the south of the better known Port Meadow, a large meadow of common land. To the south is Sheepwash Channel which connects the Oxford Canal with the River Thames.
The Commons Registration Act 1965 is an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom enacted in 1965 that concerns the registration of rights to common land, town greens, and village greens in England and Wales. The legislation under the Harold Wilson government made reference to the Land Registration Act 1925 and Land Registration Act 1936.
Ham Common is an area of common land in Ham, London. It is a conservation area in, and managed by, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It comprises 48.69 hectares, the second largest area of common land in the borough, 2 acres (0.81 ha) smaller than Barnes Common. It is divided into two distinct habitats, grassland and woodland, separated by the A307, Upper Ham Road. It is an area of ecological, historical and recreational interest, designated a Local Nature Reserve.
Port Meadow with Wolvercote Common and Green is a 167.1-hectare (413-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Oxford in Oxfordshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade I, and part of Oxford Meadows Special Area of Conservation. The remains of Godstow Abbey, which is a Scheduled Monument, are in the north of the site.
Wolvercote Meadows is a 7.1-hectare (18-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Oxford in Oxfordshire. Part of it is owned by the Oxford Preservation Trust. It is part of Oxford Meadows Special Area of Conservation.