Wild camping challenge goes to Supreme Court

A long-running legal challenge over the right to wild camp on Dartmoor has been heard at the Supreme Court in London. 

Alexander and Diana Darwall are challenging a Court of Appeal ruling that said people can wild camp on some privately owned commons on Dartmoor. The couple keep cattle on Stall Moor, which forms part of their 4,000-acre estate, and claim that some campers cause problems to livestock and the environment. 

Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA), has said that it would seek “to defend the public’s right to access the national park for open-air recreation”. 

Lawyers for the Darwalls argued that a 1985 law that allows “access to the commons on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation” would prohibit camping. 

The Darwalls’ barrister, Timothy Morshead KC, said the Darwalls were concerned about “the damage that wild camping can cause”, as well as the fire risk. 

The Darwalls won a High Court case in January 2023 to be allowed to remove people found camping on their land, but the DNPA challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court judgement is expected at a later date. 

Dartmoor is the only place in England where the public have the right to camp in open countryside without getting permission from landowners.