Preface to Second Edition
| Author | Christopher Jessel |
| Pages | 13-14 |
Page 13
Preface to the Second Edition
Since the first edition was published in 1998 there have been major changes in the topics covered in this book. The most important is the Land Registration Act 2002. That will lead to the loss of manorial rights, particularly to minerals in former copyhold land and to some franchises, unless action is taken before that land is subject to first registration or to a disposition after 13 October 2013. I have therefore included a new section on the meaning of manorial rights, as well as extending the discussion of the various sorts of right a lord of the manor may have to minerals and sporting. Indeed, the Act not only prevents the registration of title to unregistered manors but also affects nearly all aspects of the manor from franchises to chancel repairs, and references to it will be found in most chapters.
Second to that are the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and the Commons Act 2006. Those Acts have between them revolutionised the law relating to common land. The law of town and village greens continues to develop and I have expanded the treatment of this as it affects the manor. With the spread of compulsory registration the issue of unclaimed common land will become more important than in the past.
There are many changes of detail. The House of Lords Act 1999 has excluded most hereditary peers from Parliament, and when this book was in preparation further changes were announced. The Hunting Act 2004 has affected sporting rights. The Legal Services Act 2007 has modified the rules about the conveyancing of manors. There have been changes in the way manors and the benefits from them are taxed. Even manors are not exempt from the need to take account of European law and of human rights.
I have also taken the opportunity of revising the treatment of several topics, in particular the early history and development of manors in the light of recent historical research. I have included a new section on rectorial manors which my experience since the first edition shows to be more widespread than I had then appreciated. I have enlarged the discussion of ownership of roadside verges, partly because of widespread misconceptions about the extent to which they can be manorial waste. I have also extended the discussion of escheat partly because
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xiv The Law of the Manor
this has come to be of growing importance in recent years now that trustees in...
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