Open Country is a designation used for some UK
access land.
It was first defined under the 1949
National
Parks Act (and extended by the 1968 Countryside Act), and was
land over which an appropriate access agreement had been made.
In
particular significant upland areas of the northern Peak District
, where there had been much dispute over access
prior to World War II, were so
designated (see Mass
Trespass of Kinder Scout).
The term is also used in the 2000
CRoW Act
to describe 'areas of mountain, moor, heath and down' that are
generally available for access under that Act. (It appears that the
rights conferred by this new definition are in general less
comprehensive than those conferred under the 1949 Act, but will
apply to a wider area).
The
Countryside Agency's
publication 'Managing Public Access' appears to envisage that most
land originally designated under the 1949 Act will in due course
receive redesignation under the CRoW Act, as the original access
agreements lapse.