Village Greens

Story-book images of village greens are the essence of rural England and Wales.
In reality they are very varied and in need of our protection.

Town and village greens are the essence of rural England and Wales.

Story-book images of village greens tend to be of an expanse of grass in the centre of a village complete with oak tree and seat, or a carefully-manicured recreation ground just outside the village, where cricket is played in the lengthening shadows of a summer evening, and the villagers dance round the maypole.

In fact, they are much more than that, and very varied.

Did you know?

The best way to protect your village/town green is to register it. Registering it gives it protection.

Don't take it for granted.

Register your village green

What is a village green?

A green is any land on which a significant number of inhabitants of any area has indulged in lawful sports and pastimes, for 20 years, as of right.

We believe there to be about 3650 registered greens in England and about 220 in Wales, covering about 8150 and 620 acres respectively.

Want to protect your village green?

Join the Open Spaces Society, and benefit from our expert advice. Here are some examples of cases where we have given guidance to individual, group and local authority members. Depending on where you live, you may also have a local Open Spaces Society correspondent (our name for volunteer) who may be able to help you.

Read about our campaigning work for town and village greens here.

Find your local correspondent

Further resources about Village Greens

  • A charter for England's open spaces

    Read our August 2020 charter for the promotion and protection of open spaces so that everyone in England can benefit.

  • Protecting village greens

    Law guiding the protection of Village Greens

  • Landowner statements: the threat to village greens (England)

    Now you must apply to register land as a green within one year of a landowner’s challenge to your use of the land for informal recreation.

  • Landowner statements: the threat to village greens (Wales)

    Now you must apply to register land as a green in Wales within two years of a landowner’s challenge to your use of the land for informal recreation

  • Getting Greens Registered

    Download our Getting Greens Registered PDF - a step-by-step guide on how to go about applying for Village Green registration.

  • Record of registrations

    A list of successful green registrations

  • Public inquiry guidance

    Our former Vice-president, Edgar Powell wrote this guidance on preparing for and attending a public inquiry.

  • Court cases on town and village greens

    We publish a commentary about most decisions in the courts about town or village green registration cases. You can find a list of these cases here together with a hyperlink to our commentary or (where there is none) to a report of the case on the website of the British and Irish Legal Information Institute.

  • Driving and parking on your local green space

    Residents often want to be able to stop cars, motorcycles, and even lorries and other large vehicles, from being driven and parked on their local open space for various reasons.

  • What local councils can do for public access to town and countryside

    Local councils have a unique role in protecting and caring for the village greens in their areas. This information sheet sets out how they can go about this.

  • Frequently Asked Questions: Village and Town Greens

    Common questions about village and town greens

  • A problem solved

    Read some of the Open Spaces Society's advice and case studies relating to problems when protecting land.

  • How to register a town or village green

    A walk-through of the process to register land as a town or village green in England or Wales. 

  • Voluntary registration/dedication of land as a town or village green

    Dedicate land voluntarily as a town or village green by applying to have it included in the register of town or village greens. 

  • Management and protection of town and village greens

    DEFRA have compiled some answers to FAQ that cover the management and protection of greens once they are registered.

  • Beating the bounds of your green or common

    Parish and community councils and other local groups may like to beat the bounds of their local common or village green on Rogation Sunday.

  • Protecting commons, greens and open spaces training course

    Learn the fundamentals on this comprehensive course to include definitions, registration/designation, protection and management.

  • Vehicular access across Common Land and Town or Village Greens

    This provides guidance about vehicular access across common land and town or village greens following the repeal of section 68 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

  • Prosecuting an offence on a village green

    If you wish to prosecute someone for a criminal offence on a town or village green...

Visit Our Information Hub
Find a local correspondent

Village Greens: Latest Posts

A summer of celebration for new village greens in Havering

Earlier this year, we were delighted when Havering Council formally agreed to adopt five new village greens which it had previously identified as much-needed sites across the borough. This summer, the council is celebrating the new sites with a series of event and dedications over the coming weeks. The first of these events, which local…
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Our plan to secure urban green spaces for the public 

We made a host of recommendations to secure urban green spaces for public enjoyment.    These recommendations have been published by the House of Commons’ Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee, which last year conducted an inquiry into the ecological, environmental, and human benefits of green space, and the most effective solutions to making cities greener…
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We help win the right result for Hamsterley Green, County Durham

We have welcomed a decision which will help protect Hamsterley village green, six miles west of Bishop Auckland in County Durham. Hamsterley Parish Council, the owner of the green, with the owners of Green View, a site to be developed for housing, had applied to the environment secretary for permission to deregister part of the…
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Photograph of the Dyke Hills with the landowner, Keith Ives (centre). Louise Aukland (left) and Becky Waller (right) submitted an application for this to be registered as a village green

New village greens at Dorchester on Thames and Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire

We are celebrating the registration of two new village green at Dorchester on Thames and Little Wittenham in Oxfordshire.  The greens at the historic Dyke Hills (3.03 hectares), a scheduled Iron Age settlement, and at Day’s Lock Meadow (2.37 hectares) beside the River Thames.  They have been voluntarily registered by a beneficent landowner, Keith Ives.…
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