ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Town Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne. Its origins were tied to the grazing of animals belonging to local inhabitants. Unusually for an urban common, grazing remains a feature of the Town Moor, which is still managed by the Newcastle Freemen in conjunction with the local council. This usage has shaped the landscape and history of the space. Conflict between the Freemen and the Corporation in the late eighteenth century resulted in the Town Moor Act of 1774, which set down a joint ownership structure: the Corporation owned the land, while the Freemen controlled grazing rights. The Town Moor Act 1988 confirmed this dual control, but updated other elements of the Act, for example, enshrining the right of the public of Newcastle to take “air and exercise” on the Moor. The conflict between grazing and other uses remains a source of tension today.
