A common passage is a route maintained for use by more than one household or quarter. Public use, shared maintenance and ownership are separate questions: a gate may stand open without granting passage, while a route closed for repairs may retain an older right of crossing.
Use and Repair
The right to cross is often older than the current paving. A passage may be maintained by three households while its ground belongs to only one. A blocked route must be described separately from an extinguished right: a collapsed wall may stop feet without settling the claim.
Finding the Way
In Raven-Lest, directions distinguish a working lane, a washing way, a visitors' entrance and a genuinely common passage. Knowing the shortest route does not establish a right to take it. The distinction is visible in the first novel's blue gate and visitors' court.
A Local Curiosity
A familiar complaint says that the person who knows every shortcut is usually the one least entitled to use them. Porters sometimes know more of a quarter's paths than its oldest residents, without acquiring a single additional right of passage.
A Route That Outlives Its Owners
A passage can remain in use after the household that first allowed it has vanished. Later residents may know the route by habit while no longer knowing who promised its upkeep. When a wall collapses, the passage keeper can stop travellers for safety, but the quarter reckoning must still distinguish a temporary closure from a surrendered right. Such disputes are usually settled by witnesses and work, not by asking a living House to pronounce a new law.