Open Country

"Open Country" is a designation used for some access land in England and Wales.

It was first defined under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (and extended by the Countryside Act 1968), and was land over which an appropriate access agreement had been made.

In particular significant upland areas of the northern Peak District received the designation, where there had been much dispute over access prior to World War II, including the 1932 mass trespass of Kinder Scout.

The Countryside Agency's publication Managing Public Access appears to envisage that most land originally designated under the 1949 Act will in due course receive redesignation under the CRoW Act, as the original access agreements lapse.

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