Armed with magnifying glasses and a passion for preservation, Wiltshire Council’s rights of way team delves into centuries of history to safeguard public access routes cherished by communities across England and Wales. These modern-day detectives work tirelessly to ensure that landowners cannot unlawfully restrict passages for walkers, horse riders, and cyclists.
Their mission extends beyond protecting scenic countryside paths; the team also defends residents’ vital routes, such as railway crossings, from being closed by authorities. But time is against them. With just five years remaining until a crucial deadline at the end of 2030, their workload is massive, and the stakes could not be higher.
Since the end of World War II, the Definitive Map has served as the legal record of public rights of way, documenting footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways, and byways open to all traffic. Wiltshire’s small but dedicated team is responsible for maintaining and updating this map, clarifying the status of thousands of routes. Each assessment involves painstaking research, often taking two to three months for a single path.
READ MORE: GWR Fined £1 Million After Preventable Death of Passenger on Train
READ MORE: New Slice of Heaven: Somerset’s Mad Swans Resort Offers a Restorative Escape from City Life
Currently, they are processing around 350 applications—some dating back 25 years—and have identified 2,000 additional routes whose legal status remains uncertain. This deadline arises from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which decreed that any historic public route not officially recorded by 31 December 2030 will be extinguished, potentially erasing approximately 40,000 miles of paths across the country.
Team leader Sally Madgwick emphasizes their unwavering commitment to impartiality and evidence-based decisions. The guiding legal principle, “once a highway, always a highway,” ensures that public rights of way endure regardless of whether they have been used recently.
While rights of way can be altered or extinguished—such as in forthcoming cases involving Network Rail—any changes require rigorous council recommendations and final approval from the Secretary of State for the Environment. To build their cases, the team consults a wealth of historical maps and legal documents, including court records from the 1600s and authoritative 18th-century maps like the Andrews and Drury Map of Wiltshire from 1773.
Their research often leads them to the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, where archived files provide compelling evidence of ancient routes. Fieldwork is equally important; the officers often don wellies to walk the paths, collecting photographic proof and surveying the terrain firsthand.
One recent project involved confirming a footpath between Worton and Marston near Devizes by citing historical Quarter Sessions records. Wiltshire itself is home to some of the oldest public footpaths in the region, including the renowned Ridgeway, which has linked communities since prehistoric times.
Despite the enormity of their task, Wiltshire’s rights of way team remains steadfast in their dedication to preserving these paths, safeguarding public enjoyment and access for generations to come—while legislation still allows.
Acknowledging the backlog of applications, Councillor Martin Smith, cabinet member for highways, explained that UK councils face similar challenges nationwide. Following the initial 2026 application cut-off date, user groups such as the British Horse Society and The Ramblers submitted over 100 applications in a single year, adding to the workload.
Each Definitive Map Modification Order (DMMO) application demands detailed historical and legal research involving old maps and user testimony. Public objections and inquiries often introduce further delays, with cases sometimes escalated to the Secretary of State.
“The complexity of this process and the volume of applications mean progress can be slow,” Smith says. “However, we are fully committed to advancing these applications as quickly and thoroughly as possible, striving to reduce the backlog and protect public rights of way for the future.”