The defendant faced an accusation of having blocked a public right of way. The defendant landowner claimed to have instructed his servants to allow only seafaring men and pilots to use the path and to turn back anyone else, and that this proved that there was no intention to create a public right of way.
Held: Pollock CB said: ‘Even supposing these instructions to have been given and acted on, yet, unless it can be proved that they were communicated to the persons who used the path, and that they did so by virtue thereof, and not of right, their user was a user by the public, and the right of way has been gained, if the user has been continued long enough.’
Judges:
Pollock CB
Citations:
(1859) 1 F and F 514
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Godmanchester Town Council, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs HL 20-Jun-2007
The house was asked about whether continuous use of an apparent right of way by the public would create a public right of way after 20 years, and also whether a non overt act by a landowner was sufficient to prove his intention not to dedicate the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Land, Crime
Updated: 30 November 2022; Ref: scu.253532
