The 1932 Rights of Way Act was a precursor of the Definitive map.
Process
Highway authorities (then usually the district councils) had the power to survey rights of way in their area. Not all councils used that power.
The authority would normally write to parish councils asking them to draw on a map the rights of way that they believed existed in their parish.
Sometimes schedules were drawn up for each path.
Landowners were then contacted and asked if they agreed these claimed rights of way.
A map was then drawn up. Normally the routes claimed by parishes and agreed by landowners would be in one colour and routes that were claimed by the parishes but not agreed by the landowner were shown in a different colour. It can be important to work out which is which but there is not always a key.
No further work was done, so these maps were usually described as something like “alleged rights of way in xxxxxx area.
No historical material was consulted in most cases and there was no attempt to resolve disputes.
It is normal for there to be far fewer routes shown on the 1932 Act maps than on the definitive map, although there are also routes that appear on the 1932 Act maps but not the definitive map.
Documents to look for
These documents, if they still exist, are likely to be in the County archive.
Confusingly, some archives have filed the 1932 Act material under the Definitive map.
Start by searching for “1932 rights of way act”, but be prepared to have to search for the more general “rights of way”.
It is particularly useful to find maps that were created by the authorities, provided that you can work out which routes were disputed and which accepted. The schedules of routes, if they exist, may also be helpful.