It’s official – wild camping in Dartmoor National Park is legal. After a two-year legal battle, last Wednesday, May 21, the Supreme Court ruled that a millionaire landowner in the park was wrong to ban camping on his land.
Before the legal case, Dartmoor was the only place in England, Wales and Northern Ireland where the public had a right to wild camp without the landowner’s permission (you can mostly pitch up wherever you like in Scotland thanks to ‘right to roam’ laws).
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But the case that put that right at risk kicked off in 2023 when Alexander and Diana Darwall won a High Court case against Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) that gave them the right to remove wild campers from their 4,000-acre estate. They argued that the camping posed a threat to the environment and to the livestock they kept on the land and that, under the Dartmoor Commons Act of 1985, the right to wild camp without permission never actually existed.
Darwall’s lawyers argued that the wording of the law, which states the public has a right to ‘access to the commons on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation’, only covers walking or horseback riding across the land – and things like camping or picnicking are technically trespassing.
Following the high court case and temporary ban of camping on Dartmoor, campaigners and the DNPA took it to the Appeal Court. There, judges agreed that ‘open-air recreation’ does include the right to wild camp and overturned the previous ruling. In response, the Darwalls brought their case to the Supreme Court.
Things finally reached a conclusion last week when the Supreme Court ruled that camping is indeed a form of open-air recreation and that the public has a right to camp on Dartmoor Commons without permission.
Kevin Bishop, the CEO of Dartmoor National Park, told the Guardian: ‘I am over the moon, if I am honest. We are delighted and relieved. It’s a really good day for Dartmoor, for people who access the national park and for future generations as well as this enshrines their right to enjoy the park. We have defended the right to access but will ensure people access responsibly and treat the commons, and the landowners, with respect.
‘The judgment goes back to the people who fought for our national parks in the first place and what they intended for our parks – they are for the many not for the few.’
Now, campaigners are pushing for the right to roam to be legalised throughout England. Guy Shrubsole, from the Right to Roam campaign, said: ‘The verdict is a relief – but Dartmoor remains the only place in England and Wales where the public has a right to wild camp, and can lawfully experience the magic of sleeping under the stars.
‘Ministers must urgently change the law – not only to protect the right to wild camp on Dartmoor from future challenges, but to expand the public’s right of responsible access to the wider countryside.’
You can find out more about the rules around wild camping in across the UK here.
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