Bound

Bound, or BOUNDARY, the utmost limits of land by which the same is known and can be described. These are recognised in various ways—e.g. by a line of march stones, a hedge, a ditch; by reference to possession of tenants; by reference to a plan; by measurement. The plan is the safest, because least ambiguous, boundary. A boundary-fence generally belongs equally to the two neighbours. A boundary by the sea gives property in the foreshore (see BOUNDING CHARTER). The boundaries of towns depend in many cases on those of a grant of lands or jurisdiction anciently made to the town. The Reform Acts of 1832-33, 1867-68, and 1884-85, or commissions acting under them, defined political boundaries, but these are in many cases different from the municipal boundaries. In Scotland, statutes passed in 1857 and 1861 provide a simple mode of extending boundaries of burghs, provided the inhabitants in the outside districts substantially assent. Where a police-burgh in Scotland, or a local-board district in England is formed, the presiding authority defines a boundary, which is publicly recorded. There is no survey of Scotland for administrative purposes, hence the boundaries of parishes and counties are nowhere laid down and recorded by public authority, except in the case of parishes erected under Graham's Act for church purposes. The boundaries of a parish are ascertained by the private boundaries of the estates lying within it. It is often doubtful, however, to which parish lands really belong. To avoid poor-law disputes on this point, it has been suggested that the Ordnance Survey (which was based on hearsay information) should be made conclusive evidence of parochial boundaries.