Turbary

rdf:langString Turbary

rdf:langString Turbary is the ancient right to cut turf, or peat, for fuel on a particular area of bog. The word may also be used to describe the associated piece of bog or peatland and, by extension, the material extracted from the turbary. Turbary rights, which are more fully expressed legally as common of turbary, are often associated with commonage, or, in some cases, rights over another person's land. Turbary was not always an unpaid right (easement), but, at least in Ireland, regulations governed the price that could be charged. Turf was widely used as fuel for cooking and domestic heating but also for commercial purposes such as evaporating brine to produce salt. The right to take peat was particularly important in areas where firewood was scarce. The right to collect firewood was protected by estovers. In the New Forest of southern England, a particular right of turbary belongs not to an individual person, dwelling or plot of land, but to a particular hearth and chimney.