The Battle for Broxhead Common
The Case for Hampshire County Council – PART 80
- 24th March 1980 is the date of the judgement from the High Court by Brightman J.
It must be remembered that this is an appeal by Mr A. G. P. Whitfield regarding the rights of common recorded in the Chief Commons Commissioner’s FINAL DETERMINATION and the consequent registration of them under the Commons Registration Act 1965. There is no point of law on which the Land registration can be appealed. See the first two pages of the judgement.
(find notice of appeal part 76 this series) - I have attached the judgement but the main points are listed below:
- Page 2 Paragraph B – “I am not concerned with the registration of Part C as common land but only with the claims of rights of common thereover.” The explanation comes in Paragraph D – “An appeal lies only on a point of law.”
- Page 6, paragraph C – “The Chief Commons Commissioner found as a fact that there was a right of common of the pasture over the whole of the common attached to each of the tenements whether customary, freehold, copyhold or leasehold, mentioned in the survey of the unpartitioned manor 1636.”
- Paragraph E – “The Notice of Appeal attacks these findings as unsupported by any evidence. The notice also asserts there was no evidence that any rights of common were granted or enjoyed by or under the 1678, 1778, and 1876 leases.”
- Pages 7/8, paragraph H – “There are no sufficient grounds for challenging the finding of the Chief Commons Commissioner that in ancient days, the manorial tenants enjoyed rights of common both before and after partition. There is in my judgement, plenty of documentary evidence to justify that finding of fact.”
1977 High Court Judgement Brightman J 1977 Pages 1-9 23012016
- Having dealt very quickly with the Land Registration he then went on to deal with the contemporary claims for common rights.
1977 High Court Judgement Brightman J 1977 Pages 10-25 23012016
Broxhead Common 2021
Next time: to be continued, and how the issue of costs complicated the situation.