HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

COMMONS ACT 2006 Schedule 2, paragraph 4

Notice of application to register common land at Water End Moor, Great Gaddesden

Application has been made on 10th October 2019 to Hertfordshire County Council as Commons Registration Authority by The Open Spaces Society, to amend the register for common land by adding to it: parcels of land at Water End Moor, as shown coloured brown on the attached plan, on the east and west sides of the River Gade, west of the Red Lion public house and south east of Potten End Hill. If successful, this application will register common land which was provisionally registered, but was cancelled by request or agreement, and is eligible for re-registration because it was waste land of a manor.

The application, which includes a plan of the land proposed for registration, together with supporting evidence, is available for inspection at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/commonsandgreens and County Hall and may be seen free of charge at Front Reception, County Hall, Hertford, SG13 8DN between 9.00 am to 4.00 pm on Monday to Friday. Please quote the reference number of the application, CLP050A.

Anyone wishing to make a representation to Hertfordshire County Council about this application must do so in writing. All representations must be received by Monday 16th November 2020. The representation must state your name and postal address, the nature of your interest in the land, the grounds on which your representation is made and must be signed by you. You may also include an email address. It should be sent to Angela Simpkins, Countryside & Rights of Way Service (CHN101), Hertfordshire County Council, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford, SG13 8DN; email: commons&greens@hertfordshire.gov.uk. Please quote the reference number of the application, CLP050A.

Any representations received will not be treated as confidential and will be copied to the applicant for their comment. Representations will also be made available for inspection and where applicable will be sent to the Planning Inspectorate for a decision.

6th October 2020

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Hertfordshire County CouncilWater End Moor, Great Gaddesden

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© Crown copyright and database rights 2020 Ordnance SurveyScale 1:2,500 100019606. Use of this data is subject to terms and conditions.0 25 50 100 Metres You are not permitted to copy, sub-licence, distribute or sell anyof this data to third parties in any form. (This restriction may not apply to HCC and its licenced contractors agents and partners.)

Land applied to be registered as Common Land

Application to register Water End Moor (CL251) under paragraph 4 (5)

Table of Contents

Evidence Pages Application Form CA13 2-7 Continuation Sheet to Q.5 8-11 Appendix 1: Summary of Historical Evidence 12-20 Appendix 2: Site Photographs including Location Map 21-34

FORM CA13

Commons Act 2006: Schedule 2

Application to correct non-registration or mistakenregistration This section is for office use only

Official stamp Application number

Register unit number allocated at registration (for missed commons only)

Applicants are advised to read ‘Part 1 of the Commons Act 2006: Guidance to applicants’ and to note:

• Any person can apply under Schedule 2 to the Commons Act 2006.

• All applicants should complete boxes 1-10.

• Applications must be submitted by a prescribed deadline. From that date onwards no further applications can be submitted. Ask the registration authority for details.

• You will be required to pay a fee unless your application is submitted under paragraph 2, 3, 4 or 5 of Schedule 2. Ask the registration authority for details. You would have to pay a separate fee should your application relate to any of paragraphs 6 to 9 of Schedule 2 and be referred to the Planning Inspectorate.

Note 1

Insert name of commons registration authority.

1. Commons Registration Authority

To the: Tick the box to confirm that you have: enclosed the appropriate fee for this application: or have applied under paragraph 2, 3, 4 or 5, so no fee has been enclosed:

Hertfordshire County Council

Note 2 If there is more than one applicant, list all their names and addresses in full. Use a separate sheet if necessary. State the full title of the organisation if the applicant is a body corporate or an unincorporated association. If you supply an email address in the box provided, you may receive communications from the registration authority or other persons (e.g. objectors) via email. If box 3 is not completed all correspondence and notices will be sent to the first named applicant.

Note 3 This box should be completed if a representative, e.g. a solicitor, is instructed for the purposes of the application. If so all correspondence and notices will be sent to the person or firm named here. If you supply an email address in the box provided, the representative may receive communications from the registration authority or other persons (e.g. objectors) via email.

2. Name and address of the applicant

Name:

Postal address:

Telephone number:

Fax number:

E-mail address:

Postcode

The Open Spaces Society

RG9 2BA

c/o Frances Kerner25a Bell StreetHenley on Thames

3. Name and address of representative, if any

Name:

Firm:

Postal address:

Postcode

Telephone number:

Fax number:

E-mail address:

Note 4 For further details of the requirements of an application refer to Schedule 4, paragraph 14 to the Commons Registration (England) Regulations 2014.

Note 5 Explain why the land should be registered or, as the case may be, deregistered.

4. Basis of application for correction and qualifying criteria

Tick one of the following boxes to indicate the purpose for which you are applying under Schedule 2 of the Commons Act 2006. To register land as common land (paragraph 2): To register land as a town or village green (paragraph 3): To register waste land of a manor as common land (paragraph 4): To deregister common land as a town or village green (paragraph 5): To deregister a building wrongly registered as common land (paragraph 6): To deregister any other land wrongly registered as common land (paragraph 7): To deregister a building wrongly registered as town or village green (paragraph 8): To deregister any other land wrongly registered as town or village green (paragraph 9):

For waste land of a manor (paragraph 4), tick one of the following boxes to indicate why the provisional registration was cancelled. The Commons Commissioner refused to confirm the registration having determined that the land was no longer part of a manor (paragraph 4(3)): The Commons Commissioner had determined that the land was not subject to rights of common but did not consider whether it was waste land of a manor (paragraph 4(4)): The applicant requested or agreed to cancel the application (whether before or after its referral to a Commons Commissioner) (paragraph 4(5)):

Please specify the register unit number(s) (if any) to which this application relates:

5. Description of the reason for applying to correct the register:

The application land was subject to provisional registration under the Commons Registration Act 1965. An objection was made and the provisional registration was cancelled.The land is therefore eligible for re-registration under paragraph 4(5). Continuation Sheet 5 describes the registration history and provides evidence that the application land is waste land of the manor.

CL251

Note 6 You must provide an Ordnance map of the land relevant to your application. The relevant area must be hatched in blue. The map must be at a scale of at least 1:2,500, or 1:10,560 if the land is wholly or predominantly moorland. Give a grid reference or other identifying detail.

Note 7 This can include any written declarations sent to the applicant (i.e. a letter), and any such declaration made on the form itself.

If your application is to register common land or a town or village green and part of the land is covered by a building or is within the curtilage of a building, you will need to obtain the consent of the landowner.

6. Description of land

Name by which the land is usually known:

Location:

Note: An ordnance survey map is not included because the applicationrelates to the whole of the land in the register unit [r.19(2), (3) and (5)].

Tick the box to confirm that you have attached an Ordnance map of the land:

7. Declarations of consent

Note 8 List all supporting documents and maps accompanying the application, including if relevant any written consents. This will include a copy of any relevant enactment referred to in paragraphs 2(2)(b) or 3(2) (a) of Schedule 2 to the Commons Act 2006 or, in relation to paragraph 4 (waste land of a manor) evidence which shows why the provisional registration was cancelled. There is no need to submit copies of documents issued by the registration authority or to which it was a party but they should still be listed. Use a separate sheet if necessary.

8. Supporting documentation

Note 9 9. Any other information relating to the application List any other matters which should be brought to the attention of the registration authority (in particular if a person interested in the land is expected to challenge the application for registration). Full details should be given here or on a separate sheet if necessary.

Note 10 10. Signature The application must be signed Date: by each individual applicant, or by the authorised officer

Signatures:of an applicant which is a body corporate or an unincorporated association.

10 October 2019

REMINDER TO APPLICANT

You are responsible for telling the truth in presenting the application and accompanying evidence. You may commit a criminal offence if you deliberately provide misleading or untrue evidence and if you do so you may be prosecuted.

You are advised to keep a copy of the application and all associated documentation.

Data Protection Act 1998

The application and any representations made cannot be treated as confidential. To determine the application it will be necessary for the commons registration authority to disclose information received from you to others, which may include other local authorities, Government Departments, public bodies, other organisations and members of the public.

A copy of this form and any accompanying documents may be disclosed upon receipt of a request for information under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 or the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Continuation Sheet to Q.5 of application form

Background

Water End Moor was the subject of several applications for provisional registration under the Commons Registration Act 1965 (CL201, CL202, CL251 and VG42). In explaining the history of the provisional registration of CL251, brief mention is made of CL201 which was a separate application (No.582) made by Hemel Hempstead Rural District Council to provisionally register another part of Water End Moor and which was cancelled in September 1968.

Application: CL251

On 7 November 1969 an additional application (No.717) was made by Hemel Hempstead Rural District Council to provisionally register another part of Water End Moor situated south east of CL201. The registration number allocated to this unit was CL251. A letter and map accompanied the application. CL201 was identified on the map as C.G.3 and the additional land (CL251), for clarity, was identified as C.G.3 (A) (see Figures 1 and 2).

CL251 is dissected by the River Gade and is therefore in two parts. For ease of identification and for the purposes of this application, the application land that is adjacent to the main road (A4146) is described as Area 1 and the application land that is situated on the opposite side of the river Gade and adjacent to a track is identified as Area 2.

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Figure 1: Extract from letter accompanying Application No. 717.

Source: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS): Application No. 717.

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Figure 2: Extract from Plan marked HHRD Map B (additional) accompanying application to provisionally register part of Water End Moor [C.G.3 (A)].

Source: HALS: Application No. 717.

Objection and Cancellation

An objection (No.132) by the Trustees of the Gaddesden Estate was made to the provisional registration of CL251 on 28 July 1972 and received by the Commons Registration Authority on 1 August 1972. This objection was accepted by the Commons Registration Authority and noted in the Register of Common Land. The objection stated, ‘That the land was not Common Land at the date of registration, nor is it Common Land now’.

The Register of Common Land records that the provisional registration was cancelled on 23 July 1973. No other information is available to explain the sequence of events leading to cancellation but Hemel Hempstead Rural District Council must have been informed of the objection. The provisional registration could not have been cancelled except on a withdrawal by the applicant. CL251 is therefore eligible for re-registration under paragraph 4 (2) (5).

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Waste land of the manor, CL251: Areas 1 and 2 First, all the application land is of manorial origin as demonstrated by the historical evidence which can be found in Appendix 1, ‘Summary of Historical Evidence’.

Second, all the land fulfills the descriptive character of waste as defined in the case of Attorney General v Hanmer, i.e. the application land is, ‘the open, uncultivated and unoccupied lands parcel of the manor other than the demense lands of the manor’.

Recent site visits undertaken in August and September 2019 confirm that all the application land meets the criteria as defined in the above case. The written summary that follows describes the character of the land. This description is supplemented by a series of photographs which can be found in Appendix 2.

CL251: Area 1

The land is situated to the east of the River Gade and is wooded with an undergrowth of overgrown, mixed vegetation. Where the land meets the pavement adjacent to the road (A4146), it is open and unenclosed by a physical barrier. Where the land meets the car park of the ‘Red Lion’ pub, a hedge is in place. The hedge extends along the perimeter of the car park. It is only reasonable that the adjoining land should be physically enclosed, for on the vast majority of commons, there is a customary obligation to fence against the common. There is no engagement with farming or activity with the soil which causes the soil to be broken for productive purposes and therefore the land can be described as uncultivated. There is no profitable use of the land to the exclusion of others such as intensive grazing, quarrying or paintball events and therefore the land can be described as unoccupied.

CL251: Area 2

The land is situated to the west of the River Gade. Viewed from the track leading to property at the edge of CL251, the land is grassed with some tree cover. There is no engagement with farming or activity with the soil which causes the soil to be broken for productive purposes and therefore the land can be described as uncultivated. The grass is mown and extends to the edge of the river, however, cutting of grass does not constitute cultivation because many commons are mown regularly. A stream forms the boundary between the application land and land belonging to the National Trust. The stream appears to be sited on the former boundary between the parish of Great Gaddesden and the parish of Hemel Hempstead; this boundary also acted as the manorial boundary of the manor of Hemel Hempstead. Due to a drop in depth of the land where the stream is situated, a protective wall has been erected. Two signs marked ‘Private’ deter foot or vehicle entry along and to the end of the track. There are small posts situated alongside the track on the boundary of the application land, presumably to deter access by vehicle but they do not constitute a physical enclosure and the land is therefore ‘open’. There is no profitable use of the land to the exclusion of others such as intensive grazing, quarrying or paintball events and therefore the land can be described as unoccupied.

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Appendix 1

Summary of Historical Evidence

Introduction Applications to register different parts of Water End Moor were made under the Commons Registration Act 1965. The unit numbers allocated were CL201, CL202, CL251 and VG42 but none became finally registered.

Water End Moor, an area of manorial waste, was situated in two parishes, Great Gaddesden and Hemel Hempstead. The greater part of Water End Moor was in the parish of Great Gaddesden and the manor of Southall but a remnant (CL251) lay in the parish of Hemel Hempstead. There were at least seven manors in the parish of Hemel Hempstead, one of which was named the manor of Hemel Hempstead. CL251 was situated in the manor of Hemel Hempstead. Each manor, i.e. the manor of Southall and the manor of Hemel Hempstead was responsible for the governance of the waste situated in their respective manors. The evidence presented here confirms that CL251 is manorial waste of the manor of Hemel Hempstead. To support the evidence, reference is made to CL201 which was situated in the parish of Great Gaddesden and manor of Southall.

The manor of Hemel Hempstead

A survey undertaken by Norden in 1607 of the boundaries of the manor of Hemel Hempstead and reproduced in 1782 in a manorial steward’s memoranda book, confirms the location of Water End Moor (see Figure 1). Norden described the boundary using landmarks. These landmarks, with modern spelling in brackets, are Noke Milne (Noake Mill), Gallows Lane (now a bridleway) and Garmer (Garmer’s Spring). The extract relating to the boundary of the manor of Hemel Hempstead at Water End Moor is transcribed here with Norden’s landmarks highlighted in red:

….and soe goe downe the Lane to a Meade on the lefte hande, then over to Mr. Cleark’s Grounde of Great Gaddesden goinge by the hedge of the said Meade and Grigges Meade into the Middle of the Water Streame and soe up the Middle of the Streame to Noke Milne and soe through the flood Gatts of the same Milne up the Middest of the Streame till we come to Waterend Moore and straight up the Moore till we come to a Boundstone from thence up Gallows Lane and up that Lane till we come to a place in the same Lane called Garmer….

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Figure 1: Extract from Norden’s Survey, 1607 showing location of manorial boundary at Water End.

Source: Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS): DELs/M1.

Parish map of 1780

An extract from a map of 1780 depicting the parish of Great Gaddesden and part of the parish of Hemel Hempstead shows the landscape at Water End Moor before the road to Hemel Hempstead was realigned to the south of the River Gade c.1821 (see Figure 2). It confirms beyond doubt that Water End Moor was formerly a continuous stretch of manorial waste comprising just over 19 acres; it is now much reduced in extent. The western limit of the moor was situated at the far end of CL201 while another boundary was situated at the far end of CL251.1

1 HALS: QSB 19 & QSR 58-No.34 & No.35: At the Quarter Sessions held in 1829 regarding the diversion of another highway (Nettleden Road), Water End Moor was mentioned in the description of the location of the road and shown in a plan. An extract reads: ‘leading from Water End Moor in the said parish of Great Gaddesden towards Nettleden…….…….commencing at the western extremities of the said moor at Water End’.

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Figure 2: Extract from Map of the parish of Great Gaddesden in the county of Hertford, surveyed in 1780, annotated to show extent of Water End Moor and pertinent landmarks.

Source: (HALS): 13095.

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Surviving records for the manor court of Hemel Hempstead are voluminous and recorded in several court books. The Court Baron dealt with the admission and surrender of copyholds and was preceded at each sitting by the Court Leet, which recorded the appointment of officials, orders and presentments. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, orders issued for the regulation of animals in highways were recited regularly but there were no orders or presentments relating to Water End Moor.2 Indeed, there were very few presentments for misdemeanors on the waste overall. In 1802 however, a presentment was made regarding the unauthorised inclosure of Waterside Moor (see Figure 3). Water End Moor was not the only ‘moor’ on the river Gade but this entry in the court book indicates that a ‘moor’ signified waste of the manor.3

Figure 3: Extract from the Court Leet,15/16 June 1802.

Source: HALS: D/Els M166.

In 1814 there was a spike in presentments for incroachments elsewhere in the manor but again, none for Water End Moor.4

2 HALS: Manorial Court Books searched for presentments and orders for Water End Moor, none found: 14011,1658-1669; 14010,1694-1708; D/Els M148, 1736-1749; D/Els M160, 1756-1771; D/Els M166, 1801-1808; D/Els M169, 1809-1814; D/Els M170, 1814-1824. 3 The word moor was used to denote waste land that was wet. See Adam Moore, Bread for the Poor. And Advancement of the English Nation (1653), p.12: ‘Some of these Wastes are also in some part Moorish and Boggy’. 4 HALS: D/Els 170, Court Leet, 7 & 8 June 1814.

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CL201: Water End Moor, waste land of the manor

As confirmed by the map of 1780, CL201 was situated in the parish of Great Gaddesden and was at the west end of Water End Moor. A court document of 1677 which lists extracts from earlier manorial court rolls relating to the illegal erection of a cottage at Water End, confirms that this part of Water End Moor, i.e. CL201, was situated in the manor of Southall and that it was waste of the manor (see Figure 4). Two pertinent extracts from the court document are reproduced here:

1) 15 September 1597: The homage presented that no tenant an inhabitant of this manor shall put or Depasture upon Waterend Moor any sheep or geese between the Feasts of All Saints & the Purification of the Virgin Mary

They also presented John Clarke for making an Incroachment upon the wast of the L[or]d at Waterend Moor

2) 21 October 1676: the homage presented [tha]t James Robyan Incroach[e]d upon the wast of the L[or]d of the manor called Waterend Moor

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Figure 4: Extract from papers relating to Water End Moor confirming that part of Water End Moor (CL201) was manorial waste of the manor of Southall in the parish of Great Gaddesden.

Source: HALS: 3788.

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Tithe Maps and Apportionments

The tithe map for Hemel Hempstead shows the location of the manorial and parish boundary and the area of Water End Moor that was provisionally registered as CL251 (see Figure 5). The accompanying tithe apportionment records no.1408 as Water End Green in the section listing ‘Roads, Commons and Waste’. This entry provides further evidence that the land is waste of the manor (see Figure 6).

Figure 5: Extract from the Tithe Map of Hemel Hempstead, 1840/1 showing Water End Moor in the parish of Hemel Hempstead.

Source: The National Archives (TNA): IR 30/15/50.

Figure 6: Extract from Tithe Apportionment for Hemel Hempstead showing No. 1408.

Source: TNA IR29/15/50.

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The naming of that part of Water End Moor in the parish of Hemel Hempstead (CL251) by the name of Water End Green, rather than by the name of Water End Moor is puzzling. The tithe map of Great Gaddesden has some overlap with the parish of Hemel Hempstead. It shows a continuous stretch of waste in the parish, no.152a recorded in the Tithe Apportionment as Water End Moor, under the heading of ‘Roads, Commons and Waste’, albeit dissected by routeways.5 There is no indication on this map that the character of the land at Water End Moor in the parish of Great Gaddesden was different from the land at Water End Moor in the parish of Hemel Hempstead (see Figure 7).

Figure 7: Extract from Tithe Map of Great Gaddesden,1838, showing extent of Water End Moor, including that part in the parish of Hemel Hempstead (CL251).

Source: TNA: IR30/15/43.

The naming discrepancy identified at the time of the tithe surveys may be due to the preferences and experience of different surveyors. John Godman, who surveyed the parish of Great Gaddesden as well as six other parishes in Hertfordshire for the Tithe Commission, was an experienced local surveyor while George Alexander Smith surveyed only the parish of Hemel Hempstead and no others outside the county.6

Perhaps Smith was reflecting the physical appearance of the waste, i.e. that it was an open grassy area devoid of trees and that it was subject to customary rights of recreation.

Conclusion

Manor court evidence for CL201 in the parish of Great Gaddesden confirms beyond doubt that Water End Moor in the manor of Southall, was waste of the manor. Other manorial evidence for CL251 confirms that Water End Moor was the name given to

5 TNA: IR29/15/43. 6 R. J. P. Kain & R. Oliver, The Tithe Maps of England and Wales (Cambridge University Press, 2011). See Hertfordshire section and list of surveyors.

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part of the moor in the parish and manor of Hemel Hempstead. Cartographic evidence of 1780 confirms that Water End Moor was indeed a continuous stretch of waste that straddled two parishes (Great Gaddesden and Hemel Hempstead and two manors (Southall and Hemel Hempstead); manorial waste is frequently situated at an administrative boundary. Naming evidence confirms that ‘moor’ was used elsewhere in the manor of Hemel Hempstead to signify waste.

Searches made of the court records for the manor of Hemel Hempstead do not mention Water End Moor. This is not surprising because the extent of Water End Moor in the manor of Hemel Hempstead, i.e. CL251, was very small, approximately one acre. It was therefore limited by the number of grazing animals it could support. Perhaps this and its situation, at a distance from Hemel Hempstead where the manor court was held, led to less scrutiny by the jurors and hence no presentments for depredations on the waste. On the other hand, the court may indeed have been vigilant in its governance of the waste at Water End Moor, but had no incroachments, illegal inclosures or erection of unauthorised structures to act upon. What is certain, is that by the late 1830s, CL251 had retained its manorial status as waste, albeit with the designation of the name ‘Water End Green’. Coupled with the evidence of the manorial status of CL201 in the adjacent parish and manor, the evidence confirms that CL251 is waste land of the manor of Hemel Hempstead.

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Appendix 2

Photographs of CL251

Location map for photographs A-C taken 23 August & 4 September 2019

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A1-Area 1. Looking north west towards bridge over River Gade and CL251 on the left

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A2-Area 1. Looking north west towards bridge on River Gade. CL251 to the left

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A3-Area 1. Looking south west into CL251 towards the River Gade

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A4-Area 1. Looking south west across the main road (A4146) to CL251

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A5-Area 1. Looking south east along the main road (A4146). CL251 on the right

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A6-Area 2. Looking south west from bridge over River Gade. CL251, Area 2 (grassed area) in distance

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B1- Area 1. Looking south west at part of the hedge situated on the perimeter of the 'Red Lion' car park and which is against CL251

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B2- Area 1. Looking south west into CL251 through a breach in the hedge against CL251

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B3- Area 1. Looking north west in car park of 'Red Lion'. Boundary with CL251 on left

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C1- Area 2. Looking east at land belonging to the National Trust on the left. Drive leads to CL251 in the distance

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C2-Area 2. Looking south east at CL251. Wall above stream situated on boundary between land belonging to the National Trust and CL251

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C3-Area 2. Looking east across CL251 towards the river Gade. ‘Private’ sign in view by wall

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C4-Area 2. Looking south east along track, CL251 to the left. ‘Private’ sign in front of 3 refuse bins on right reads ‘Private- No through Road’

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