Commons and greens casework history: searching the database
Updated 10 August 2023
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2023
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commons-and-greens-casework-database/commons-and-greens-casework-history-searching-the-database
The database is updated around twice a year and contains historical records.
The historical records are transcriptions of records that were previously on registers and index cards. This means the data contains errors and missing data - if data is missing for a consent it doesn’t mean that no consent was sought.
When searching you should understand that:
- entries contain both current and pre-1974 local government areas (for example the same common could be listed under both Hampshire and the old county borough of Southampton)
- there are spelling errors so you may have to use variants (for example, ‘Minchinhampton Common’ could be misspelled as ‘Minchenhampton Common’, so you should search for ‘minch’ which will show results for both)
- the searchable date is the best way to sort by date and relates approximately to the period when the case was considered
- records beginning with MAF are for a file you can search at the National Archives
- commons can be listed as sub-entries with the name of another common first in the list so may not be the first words in the ‘Name of common or site’ column
- there are duplicates and near-duplicates because of the way that the card index systems were created
Search the columns
| Reference | Unique reference number |
|---|---|
| Reference | Casework reference number |
| Name of common or site | Name of common or site affected |
| County | County the common or site is in. This includes pre-1974 local government areas and so some commons may be listed under both old and new counties. |
| District or Parish | The district or parish the common is in |
| Group | Act or section the application or scheme was made under |
| Date of draft scheme or deed application | Date the draft scheme was received or application made |
| Date of approval or deposit consent | Date the approval was given |
| Searchable date | Dates here have been put into standard date format for you to search and sort. This he searchable date is not necessarily the date of any decision or other event, but it will relate approximately to the period when the case was considered. You can’t search for dates before 1900 because of of software limitations. Dates before 1900 will appear as ‘#N/A’. |
| Area: common part affected | Area of the common affected |
| Area: exchange land | The area of land that was exchanged |
| Purpose of works or application | Why the application was made |
| Decision letter issued | Date the decision letter and/or report was issued. For recent decisions, this is also the searchable date. |
| Notes | Notes on the application or decision |
| Comments | Comments has been used to note the outcome of the decision |