How is land owned and shared in the UK?

In the UK ownership of land is acquired in much the same way as in other Western countries, by purchase, gift or inheritance and by having the title to that land registered in public records.

There used to be quite a lot of 'common' lands in old England where e.g. villagers could freely keep their lifestock (the Word Common is still to be found on a great number of town maps) but today 'shared' property of land means that two ore more persons have together bought a piece of land and are jointly registered as owners.