RICHMONDSHIRE Council has no plans to exercise a new found right to graze animals on land in Richmond.
Instead it has agreed to transfer its rights to the Richmond Burgage Pastures Committee to further protect and maintain the town's racecourse.
In medieval times, a Burgage Right owner would have been able to graze animals on Burgage land – "one h
orse or
one beast in the said stinted pasture between April 5 and October 10 in
every year". But since the Richmond (Yorkshire) Burgage Pastures Act of 1853, holders of Burgage Rights have instead been able to vote for a committee to manage the Burgage Pastures on their behalf.
The 1853 Act remains in force as does the Richmond Burgage Pastures Committee. However, the council does not appear to have ever exercised its right to vote at the annual meeting of the Burgage Holders. Nor does it own any horses or beasts.
The council's legal team discovered that over the years the authority had acquired rights to the subsoil, but not the surface, of Richmond's old racecourse. It also owns the woodland south of the racecourse, one of the former grandstands, and the two Burgage Rights.
The rights came into council's possession when it succeeded Richmond Borough Council.
The full article contains 210 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
