The English Peasantry and the Enclosure of Common Fields

part 2, fol. 78 a). From Bath to Kelston (in Wilts) was champaine (fol.

Chapter 197,277 wordsPublic domain

67 b) and the triangular district between Bristol, Bath and Chipping Sodbury about half enclosed and half “champaine,” and also the district on the other side of the Bristol Avon towards Frome in Somerset, the immediate neighbourhood of Frome being open (Vol. VII., part 2, fol. 68–77).

Aulcester (in Warwick), to Evesham was “2 Miles by woody and inclosed ground, and then a mile by Ground lesse inclosed.... Thence 4 miles by cleane Champion” (Vol. IV. fol. 168 b), and the “champion Ground” continued for 6 or 7 miles to Stanwey, on the Cheltenham road.

North-west Worcester seems to have been generally enclosed. We have Bridgenorth (in Shropshire) to Kidderminster “mostly enclosed ground” (Vol. IV. fol. 182 b). Bewdley to Milton, Milton to Hertlebury, and hence to Worcester is all described as “enclosed Ground” (183 b and 184 a), and so also the country between Worcester and Bromsgrove (185 a and 186 b).

APPENDIX D.

GENERAL LEGISLATION AFFECTING ENCLOSURE.

(Previous to the General Enclosure Act of 1845.)

STATUTE OF MERTON (1235), c. 4.

Enabled lords of manors, on leaving sufficient pasture for their tenants on the waste, to enclose the residue; but the lord must prove that the tenants have sufficient pasture, and means of ingress and egress.

STATUTE OF WESTMINSTER (1285), c. 46.

Enabled lords of manors in which the waste was used as a common pasture by other manors, to enclose against their neighbours, when no specific grant of a right of common pasture had been made. It also provided against the creation of new common rights. “By occasion of a Windmill, Sheepcote, Dairy, enlarging of a court necessary, or Courtelage, from henceforth no man shall be grieved by Assize of Novel Disseisin for Common of Pasture.” If after enclosure under this act the hedges are pulled down, the neighbouring townships may be distrained upon for damages.

ACTS FOR THE PROTECTION OF FORESTS.

21 EDWARD IV. (1482), c. 7.

In a forest subject to common rights after a wood has been felled the land may be enclosed for seven years to protect the young timber.

35 HENRY VIII. (1544), c. 17.

Where woods are subject to common rights, lords of manors may enclose one fourth of the wood for seven years, and fell the timber, leaving 12 young trees per acre standing. Meanwhile the lord of the manor surrenders his common rights upon the remaining three fourths. Kent, Surrey and Sussex were excluded from the operation of the act.

13 ELIZABETH (1571), c. 25.

This makes the preceding Act perpetual.

DEPOPULATION ACTS.

The preamble of the first of this series of Acts, though well known, is here quoted in part.

4 HENRY VII. (1489), c. 19.

“Our King and Sovereign Lord ... remembreth that ... great inconveniences do daily increase by desolation and pulling downe, and wilfull waste of houses and townes within this realme and laying to Pasture Lands, which customably have been used in tillage, whereby idlenesse, which is the ground and beginning of all mischiefes, daily doth encrease. For where in some townes two hundred persons were occupied and lived by their lawfull labours, now there are occupied two or three heardmen, and the residue fall into idlenesse, the husbandrie, which is one of the greatest commodities of this Realme is greatly decayed, Churches destroyed, the service of God withdrawn, the bodies there buried, not prayed for....”

To check these evils all occupiers of 20 acres and upwards of land that had been tilled in the previous three years, are required to maintain tillage, under pain of forfeiting to the lord of the manor one half of the profits of such land.

6 HENRY VIII. (1515), c. 5.

This was a temporary Act, in principle identical with the one passed in the following session.

7 HENRY VIII. (1516), c. 1.

This Act applied only to parishes “whereof the more part was or were used and occupied to tillage and husbandry.” In such places “If any person shall decay a Town, a Hamlet, or House of Husbandry, or convert tillage into Pasture” and have not “within j. yeere next after such wylfull decaye reedefyed and made ageyn mete and convenyent for people to dwell and inhabyte the same, and have use, and therein to exercyse husbandry and tyllage” he forfeits one half of his land to the lord of the manor, until the offence is reformed. Land converted to pasture must again be tilled “after the maner and usage of the countrey where the seyd land lyeth.”

This Act was followed by the Inquisition of 1517.

ACT FOR RESTRAINING SHEEP FARMING.

25 HENRY VIII. (1534), c. 13.

This is an Act to deal with the economic cause of depopulating enclosures.

“Sundry persons have of late daily studied how to gather into few hands great multitude of Farms and great Plenty of Cattle, and in especial Sheep, putting such land as they can get to Pasture, and not to tillage, whereby they have not only pulled down Churches and Towns and inhanced the old Rates ... so that poor men are not able to meddle with it ... it is thought that the great occasions that moveth and provoketh those greedy and covetous people ... is only the great Profit that cometh of Sheep.”

It is said that “some have 24,000, some 20,000, some 10,000, some 6,000, some 5,000 and some more, some less.”

It is enacted that with certain exceptions no one may keep more than 2,000 sheep under a penalty of 3_s._ 4_d._ per sheep per annum, half of the fine going to the crown, half to the informer. No man, further, may take more than two farms, and these must not be in the same parish.

DEPOPULATION ACTS.

27 HENRY VIII. (1536), c. 22.

This Act recites 4 Henry VII., c. 19, the first of the Depopulation Acts; and states that it had been enforced only in lands held immediately of the King. Now “the King shall have the Moiety of the Profits of those lands already converted for Tillage to Pasture sithence three years before Ann. 4 H. 7 until the Owner hath builded up a convenient House to inhabit, and converted the same Pasture to Tillage again; and also take the Moiety of the issues of those lands hereafter to be converted, if the immediate Lord do it not within one year,” until the owners have built a Tenement for every 50, 40 or 30 acres, and have reconverted the pasture to tillage. Again it is stipulated that the land shall be tilled “according to the nature of the soil and the course of Husbandry used in the country where any such lands do lie.”

27 HENRY VIII. (1536), c. 28.

Persons to whom monastic lands had been granted by Henry VIII. are required to maintain yearly as much of the land in tillage and husbandry as had commonly been so used within the preceding 20 years, under a penalty of 6_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ per month.

CONFIRMATION OF STATUTE OF MERTON.

3 & 4 EDWARD VI. (1550), c. 3.

This Act cites and confirms the Statutes of Merton and Westminster and facilitates the recovery of damages for breaking down the hedges erected to enclose wastes.

DEPOPULATION ACTS.

5 & 6 EDWARD VI. (1552), c. 5.

This Act requires that so much land be tilled yearly in any parish as had been tilled at any time since the accession of Henry VIII., under a penalty of 5_s._ per acre per annum.

Four Commissioners were to be appointed to enquire into the conversion of arable into pasture.

The Act did not apply to--

(1) Land that had been pasture for 40 years. (2) Waste ground, common downs, fens, moors, marshes. (3) Lawful warren. (4) Woodland converted into pasture. (5) Land in deer parks. (6) Salt marshes and inundated land. (7) Land enclosed by licence of the King or his predecessor.

2 & 3 PHILIP AND MARY (1555–6), c. 2.

This cites and confirms the original Depopulation Act of 4 Henry VII. and makes it apply to all houses with 20 acres of land, whether the land is in tillage or not.

Commissioners to be appointed to enquire into all grounds converted into pasture since St. George’s Day, in the 20th year of Henry VIII. to see to the re-edifying of houses, and the reconversion of pasture into tillage. The exceptions permitted are where lands have been enclosed by the King’s licence, and by discretion of the Commissioners in cases where no public benefit, but individual hardship would ensue by the execution of the Act.

Rents increased on the conversion of tillage into pasture were to be abated; re-edified houses were to be let with 20 acres of land or 10 acres if the owner has no more.

The penalty of laying land down into pasture was again fixed at 5_s._ per acre per annum, half to be paid to the Crown, half to the informer.

5 ELIZABETH (1563), c. 2.

By this Act the more recent Depopulation Acts, 27 Henry VIII. c. 28, 5 & 6 Edward VI. c. 5, and 2 & 3 Philip and Mary, c. 2, were repealed as ineffectual; but the earlier ones, 4 Henry VII. c. 19, 7 Henry VIII. c. 22 and 27 Henry VIII. c. 22, ordered to be put into execution.

It was also enacted that “such lands or so much in quantity in any place as hath been put in Tillage and eared in any one year and so kept four years sithence the feast of St. George the Martyr, anno 20 Henry VIII. shall be eared and kept in Tillage, according to the Nature of the Soil and Custom of the Country by the Occupier thereof.”

The penalty was raised to 10_s._ per acre per annum, and it could be recovered by the next heir in reversion if he sued for it within a year, if not, by the Remainderman, or in default by the lord of the manor, and if not so recovered, by the Crown.

This Act remained in force for thirty years, but was discontinued by 35 Elizabeth (1593), c. 5.

ACT FOR THE PROTECTION OF COTTAGERS’ HOLDINGS AND RIGHTS OF COMMON.

31 ELIZABETH (1589), c. 7.

This Act prohibited the letting of cottages to agricultural labourers with less than four acres of land under a penalty of 40_s._ per cottage per month, or the occupation of one cottage by more than one family, under a penalty of 10_s._ per cottage per month. The amount of land attached to cottages let to countrymen following other occupations was also regulated. These holdings were evidently intended to be acres in the arable fields, carrying with them the proportional common rights of pasturage, &c. This Act was repealed in 1775.

DEPOPULATION ACTS.

39 ELIZABETH (1597), c. 1.

In the preamble of this Act it is stated that in late years more than in times past, sundry towns, parishes and houses of husbandry have been destroyed and become desolate. All previous Acts for the re-edification of houses are repealed, and it is enacted that when houses of husbandry have been decayed for more than seven years, half the number must be rebuilt, and 40 acres of land allotted to them; unless the property had been sold meanwhile; in that case the purchaser need only rebuild one quarter of the decayed houses.

Where houses had decayed within the previous seven years, they are to be rebuilt; and if previously they had less than 40 acres of land, they must now at least have 20 acres; if previously they had 40 acres or more, they must now have at least 40 acres.

The penalty for not rebuilding the farmhouse, was £10 per house per annum; for not assigning the prescribed quantity of land, 10_s._ per acre per annum. One third of the penalty went to the Queen, one third to the parish, one third to the informer.

It is also enacted that it shall be lawful for any lord of the manor to make exchanges of lands, whether arable, pasture or meadow, with his tenants, and for the tenants, with the consent of the lord, to make exchanges with one another, for the sake of more convenient occupation and husbandry. In other words the re-arrangement of the intermixed holdings in common arable fields and common meadows is expressly sanctioned.

39 ELIZABETH (1597), c. 2.

The preamble states that from the 7th year of Henry VII.’s reign to the 35th year of the current reign there had always been in force some Act for the maintenance of tillage, but in the latter year all such laws were discontinued; and that in consequence in the period 1593–1597 “there have growen many more Depopulacions by turning Tillage into Pasture than at any time for the like number of years heretofore.”

It is enacted that lands converted from tillage to pasture shall be re-converted within three years, and that lands now in tillage shall remain so, under a penalty of 20_s._ per acre per annum. The Act applies to the counties of Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cambridge, Derby, Dorset, Durham, Gloucester, Hampshire, Hereford, Huntingdon, Leicester, Lincoln, Northampton, Northumberland, Nottingham, Oxford, Rutland, Somerset, Warwick, Wiltshire, Worcester, Yorkshire, with the Isle of Wight, and Pembroke in South Wales.

It did not apply to Cheshire, Cornwall, Cumberland, Devon, Essex, Hertford, Kent, Lancashire, Middlesex, Monmouth, Norfolk, Shropshire, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex and Westmoreland.

This Act remained on the Statute Book for 266 years. The earlier Depopulation Acts were repealed by 21 James I., c. 28, but this Act remained theoretically part of the law of the land until repealed by the Statute Law Revision Act of 1863. This was the last of the Depopulation Acts.

AN ENCLOSURE ACT.

4 JAMES I. c. 11.

This is really a local Enclosure Act. The people of the parishes of Merden, Bodenham, Wellington, Sutton St. Michael, Sutton St. Nicholas, Murton-upon-Lug, and Pipe in Hereford, had all their lands, whether meadow, pasture or arable, open and intermixed, and commonable “after Sickle and Sithe.” They themselves were accustomed to house their sheep and cattle throughout the year, and the people of neighbouring villages took advantage of this custom to turn in cattle after harvest. The enclosure of one third of the land in each parish is authorised by the Act.

ACTS FOR IMPROVING THE CULTIVATION OF COMMON FIELDS.

13 GEORGE III. (1773), c. 81.

This Act has been considered in the text.

41 GEORGE III. (1801), c. 20.

This was a temporary Act to encourage the cultivation of potatoes in common arable fields. The famine prices of 1800–1 caused a good deal of curious special legislation. Any occupier of land in common fields is authorised to plant potatoes, and to guard them from cattle grazing in the fields, on giving compensation for the loss of the common right to the other occupiers.

ACTS FOR FACILITATING ENCLOSURE.

41 GEORGE III. (1801), c. 109.

This is the General Enclosure Act promoted by the Board of Agriculture of 1793–1819. It is entitled “An Act for consolidating in one Act certain provisions usually inserted in Acts of inclosure, and for facilitating the mode of proving the several facts usually required in the passing of such Acts.”

1 & 2 GEORGE IV. (1821), c. 23.

This amends the previous Act, so as to better regulate the cultivation of parishes during the progress of enclosure by Act.

1 & 2 WILLIAM IV. (1831), c. 42.

By this the churchwardens and overseers of a parish may enclose, up to 50 acres of waste, with the consent of the lord of the manor and the majority of the owners of common rights, for the relief of the poor rates, or let the land so enclosed to poor and industrious persons. By another Act in the same session (c. 57) the principle is applied to Crown lands.

4 & 5 WILLIAM IV. (1834), c. 30.

An Act to facilitate the exchange of intermixed lands in common fields, by removing difficulties caused by some owners being minors, insane, &c.

6 & 7 WILLIAM IV. (1836), c. 115.

This is an important Act “for facilitating the enclosure of open and arable fields in England and Wales.” Two-thirds in number and value of common arable fields may appoint commissioners for carrying out enclosure, as if enclosure had been authorised by a special Act. The awards were to be deposited in the parish churches.

If seven-eighths of the proprietors were agreed, enclosure could be carried out without the appointment of commissioners.

This Act is not to authorise the enclosure of common fields within 10 miles of the centre of London, within 1 mile from the centre of a town of 5,000 inhabitants, 1½ miles from one of 15,000 inhabitants, 2 miles from one of 30,000 inhabitants, 2½ miles from one of 70,000 inhabitants, or 3 miles from one of 100,000 inhabitants.

3 & 4 VICT. (1840), c. 31.

This was an Act amending the last, by extending its scope to lammas meadows; and providing that persons who were dissatisfied with awards under the preceding Act forfeited their right of appeal if they took possession of the lands allotted to them.

APPENDIX E.

A NORFOLK OPEN FIELD PARISH.

The parish of Runton, adjoining Cromer, is unenclosed, and throws some light on Norfolk common field custom, and on the curious law with regard to “liberties of fold courses.” There are in the parish two villages, East and West Runton. Most of the land in the parish is either common, or open field arable land. Of the open field arable, about 600 acres are “half year land” and between four and five hundred acres “whole year land.” Both the whole year land and the half year land is intermixed, both in ownership and occupation, but the extent of intermixture has been steadily and continuously reduced. There is a tendency for adjoining strips of land to be let to one and the same farmer, and he is allowed to plough down the balks, in Runton called _lawns_ or _loons_, which separate them. There are no common rights over the whole year land. There is an area of whole year land of 200 acres or more around each village, which is where one would expect to find it; and very curiously, a detached area of about 20 acres half way between the villages. There is no well marked boundary separating whole year from half year lands.

The half year lands are commonable from Michaelmas to Lady Day old style, that is from October 11th to April 11th. There is no prescribed rule of cultivation, but the customary course is:--first year, wheat; second, turnips; third, barley sown with clover, the land under this crop being “new ley land” after the barley is reaped; and in the fourth year the land remains under clover and is called “old ley land” or “ollay land.”

The peculiar feature, characteristic of Norfolk common field agriculture, is that the owner of the Abbey Farm _in the next parish_, has the right to pasture sheep on the half year lands of Runton; in the words of the old Act, he has the “liberty of fold courses” of Runton. Further, the Runton common right owners make up a flock called “The Collet Flock,” and it is understood that wherever the Abbey flock goes, the Collet Flock can go too.

But the two flocks are kept distinct, grazing separately, each with its own shepherd.

INDEX.

Acreage of commons and common fields, 36

Acreage under wheat, 108

Acts for enclosing common fields, 7

Acts for enclosing waste, 7

Ackworth (Yorks.), 123

Adams, H. B.--“Germanic Origin of New England Towns,” 185; “Village Communities of Cape Ann and Salem,” 184

Agriculture, Board of (existing), 16

Agriculture, Board of, (1793–1819), _passim_.

Ailesworth (N. Hants.), 13

Ailesworth Heath, 17

Alconbury (Hunts.), 123

Amesbury (Wilts.), 235

Arden (Warwick), 205

Area of surviving common fields, 189

Area of recently enclosed common fields, 191

Ashby Magna, 208

Averham (Notts.), 137

Avon, the Wiltshire, 112

Avon, the Warwickshire, 205

Axholme, Isle of, 52

Aylesbury, Vale of, 221

Babraham (Cambs.), 210

Baird and Foot, “Middlesex,” 218

“Balks,” 15, 63

“Bancroft Field,” 61

“Barley Field,” 14

Barnady (Suffolk), 128

Barrowden (Rutland), 64

Bartlow (Cambs.), 82

Barton (Westmoreland), 177

Barton Turf (Norfolk), 127

Battersea common fields, 77

“Bean Field,” 12

Bear, W. E., Report to the Labour Commission on Agricultural Labour, 137

Beddington and Wallington (Surrey), 41

Bedfordshire, enclosure of, 192

Belton (Axholme), 52

Belvoir, Vale of, 97, 200

Bensington (Oxon.), 51

Bentham, J.--“Societie of the Saints,” 160; “Christian Conflict,” 202

Berkshire, enclosure of, 238

Berwick Salome (Oxon.), 51

Bestmoor (Oxon.), 35

Bishton, J., “Shropshire,” 252

“Black Corn Field,” 71

Blyth, W., “The English Improver,” 111, 201, 203, 219, 226, 253

Boldon book, the, 34

Bosworth (Leicester), 201

Boxworth (Cambs.), 210

Boys, “Kent,” 39, 230

Braunton Great Field, 159, 250

“Brecks,” 79

“Brewers’ Ash Field,” 20

Brightwell (Berks.), 68

Brixworth (N. Hants.), 104

“Broad Mead,” 67

“Broad Oxgangs,” 31, 32

Buckinghamshire, enclosure of, 219

Burley estate small holdings, 138

Burnham (Suffolk), 180

“Buscallys,” 78

Bygrave (Herts.), 45

Cambridgeshire, enclosure of, 208

Carew, “Cornwall,” 18, 160, 247

Carlton in Lindrick, 127

Carmichael, A., on Runrig, 166

Carpenter of village community, 34

“Carrs,” 78, 79

Castle Camps (Cambs.), 75

Castor (N. Hants.), 13

Catthorpe (Leicester), 111, 208

Celery growing in Axholme, 57

“Champaine,” or “Champion,” 64, 70, 205

“Changeable Allotments,” 24

Charnwood Forest, 204

Cheshire, enclosure of, 252

Chilterns, the, 231

“Chimney Peepers,” 22

Clark, J.--“Hereford,” 125, 252; “Radnor,” 244

“Clipsatt Field,” 61

Clothall (Herts.), 43

Cobbett, W., “Rural Rides,” 112, 113, 237

Colchester, 214

“Comachadh,” 168

Constable of manor, 22, 34

Cornwall, enclosure of, 247

“Cotes,” 21

Cotswold Hills, 241

Cottage holdings, 121, 137

“Country Farmer, A,” 98, 131

“Country Gentleman, A,” 95

Court rolls, 20

Cow dung as fuel, 201

“Cowleaze,” 30

Cowper, John, “Inclosing Commons, etc.,” 110, 154

Crutchley, “Rutlandshire,” 77

Cumberland, enclosure of, 256

Cunningham, W., “Growth of English Industry,” 91, 115

“Customary Cottages,” 29

“Dales,” 257

Dartmoor, 170, 248

Davis, R., “Oxfordshire,” 76, 222

Davis, T., “Wiltshire,” 76, 77, 113, 114, 115, 236

Deddington (Oxon.), 103

Derbyshire, enclosure of, 228

Devonshire, enclosure of, 245

“Discourse of the Commonweal,” 39, 214, 246

Disputes in open fields, 15, 16, 47

“Doles,” 21, 78, 79

“Dolemeads,” 79

Donaldson, J., “Northamptonshire,” 197

Dorset, enclosure of, 240

“Down Field,” 61

Downham (Cambs.), 210

Durham, enclosure of, 229

Eakring (Notts.), 12

Earsham (Norfolk), 128

“East Field,” 20

Eden, “Condition of the Poor,” 102, 103, 104, 256

Elmstone Hardwick (Glos.), 15, 47

Eltham (Kent), 232

Ely (Cambs.), 210

Enclosure, meaning of, 1

Enclosure, methods, 6

Enclosure, typical act of, 3

Engrossing of farms, 68

Epping Forest, 2, 17

Epworth (Axholme), 52

Erchenfeld, 253

Essex, enclosure of, 213

Evenley (N. Hants.), 127

“Everington Field,” 69

“Every Year Lands,” 80, 178

Ewelme (Oxon.), 50

“Farthingholds,” 30

“Field Jury,” 11

Fiennes, Celia, “Tour,” 201, 212, 214, 222, 224, 226, 228, 229, 231, 238, 252, 255

Flax growing in Axholme, 54

“Fold Courses,” 83

Fordington (Dorset), 30

Fordington Field, 19, 30

“Foreman of the Fields,” 11, 14

Forrest, W., “Princelye Poesie,” 10

Foston (Leicester), 100

“Four Field Course,” 48, 74

Fox, J., “Glamorganshire,” 244

Frilsham Common, 69

Frome R., 20

Furze common (Ewelme), 51

Gateshead (Durham), 177

“Gathering and Splitting,” 15

Gavelkind, 245

General Enclosure Acts, 17

General report on enclosures, 95, 108, 123, 124, 129, 161

Gloucestershire, enclosure of, 241

Granger, J., “Durham,” 154, 229

“Great Horse Shoe,” 27

Great Sheepey (Leicester), 127

Grimspound (Dartmoor), 170

Grimston (Leicester), 138

Grimstone (Dorset), 19

Grimstone common rights, 31

Gunnerton (Northumberland), 179

Hadley Wood, 2

Hagbourne, West (Berks.), 68

Hale, J., defence of, 150

“Half-Livings,” 22

“Half-Plow,” 172

“Half-Year Lands,” 78, 80

Ham Field (Surrey), 65

Hambleton cow pasture, 138

Hampshire, enclosure of, 240

Hampstead Heath, 2, 17

Hasbach, W., “Die E. Landarbeiter,” 61

Hassell, C.--“Carmarthen,” 244; “Pembroke,” 244

“Hatching Ground,” 23

Haxey (Axholme), 52

“Haywards,” 22, 34

“Headlands,” 15

Hendred, East and West (Berks.), 68

Henlow (Beds.), 3

Herefordshire, enclosure of, 252

Herringswell (Suffolk), 127, 188

Hertfordshire, enclosure of, 218

High Prices, Select Committee on, 108

Hildersham (Cambs.), 82

“Hitchland,” 20, 76

“Hole Rush,” 25

Holt, J., “Lancashire,” 255

“Hookland,” 20, 76

“Hook Mead,” 67

“Horse’s Foot of Land,” 173

“Horse-gang,” 172

Houghton, J., “Collection,” 155, 157

Howlett, J., 91, 100

“Hundred Acres,” 24, 28

Hunmanby (Yorks.), 88

Huntingdon, enclosure of, 212

Icklingham (Suffolk), 180

Iken (Suffolk), 214

Ilsley, East and West, 68

“Infields,” 80, 81, 187

“Ings,” 78, 79

Insurrections and enclosure, 112, 150

Intermixed lands, 243

Isleham (Cambs.), 74

Ivel, R., 4

James and Malcolm--“Buckinghamshire,” 75, 219; “Surrey,” 77, 233

Kay, G.--“Flint,” 244; “Carnarvon,” 244

Kent, enclosure of, 230

Kent, “Norfolk,” 85, 216, 217

Kets’ Rebellion, 150

Kibworth Beauchamp (Leicester), 103

Lambarde, W., “Perambulation of Kent,” 231

“Lacy’s Bridge Man,” 22

Lancashire, enclosure of, 255

“Lands,” 9

“Land spoilers,” 67

“Langford Field,” 20

“Launchers,” 250

Laurence, J., “New System of Agriculture,” 153

“Lawnds,” or “Lawns,” 20

Lawrence, E., “Duty of Steward,” 152, 155, 201, 207

Laxton (Notts.), 8

Laxton Heath, 9

Leadam, W. S., “Domesday of Inclosures,” 212, 225

Leatham, I., “East Riding,” 77, 89

Lee, Joseph, 111, 161, 202

Leland’s Itinerary, 203, 205, 212, 219, 221, 222, 224, 228, 239, 253, 256

Letcomb (Berks.), 128

“Leyland,” 77

“Liberty of Fold Courses,” 83

Lincolnshire, enclosure of, 222

Little Brandon (Norfolk), 127

“Little Horse Shoe,” 28

Littleport (Cambs.), 210

“Livings,” 21

Llanerlyl, 42

Lloyd, T., “Cardiganshire,” 244

Lolworth (Cambs.), 210

“Longlands,” 26

Long Sutton (Lincoln), 263

“Loons,” or “Lownts,” 20

“Lot Meadows,” 35

Lowe, R., “Nottinghamshire,” 92, 227

Luffenhall (Herts.), 45

Luffenham, North and South (Rutland), 64

Lynches, 70

“Maam” soil, 233

Macdonald, J., “Hebrides,” 173

“Machair,” 166

Madingley (Cambs.), 210

Maids Morton (Bucks.), 102

Maitland, F. W., “Select Pleas,” 156

Manor bull, 23

Marshall, W., “Central Highlands,” 172, 180; “Rural economy of: Gloucestershire,” 108, 153, 241; “Norfolk,” 79; “Yorkshire,” 156; “Midlands,” 206; “Southern District,” 232, 235; “West of England,” 248

Massachusetts, decrees for common fields, 185

Massie, J., 91

Matton (Lincoln), 177

Maxwell, G., “Huntingdonshire,” 74, 212

Mercian type of village community, 8

Mere (Wilts.), 236

“Meres,” 63

Merrow (Surrey), 66

Merton, statute of, 6

“Mesne inclosures,” 225

“Middle Field,” 20

Middlesex, enclosure of, 218

“Mill Bars Patch,” 26

“Mill Field,” 8, 16

“Mingle Mangle,” 18

Misterton (Leicester), 208

Monk, R., “Leicestershire,” 198

Monmouthshire, enclosure of, 252

Moore, John, 111, 201, 208

More, Sir T., “Utopia,” 116

Moreton, North (Berks.), 70

Morgan, G. B., “Cornwall,” 249

“Narrow Oxgangs,” 31

Nen, R., 17

“Nether Field,” 16

“New Closes,” 21

Newborough (N. Hants.), 197

Newtontony (Wilts.), 200

“No Ditch Field,” 61

Norden, J., “Book of Surveying,” 155, 214, 238

Norfolk, enclosure of, 217

Norham, 179

“Normangate Field,” 16

Northamptonshire, enclosure of, 197

Northbourne (Kent), 42

“North Field,” 61

Northumberland, enclosure of, 259

Northwold (Norfolk), 128

Nottinghamshire, enclosure of, 227

One field system, 179

Orford (Suffolk), 214

Ossington (Notts.), 137

Outer Hebrides, 166

“Out Field,” 77, 179

Over (Cambs.), 210

Owston (Axholme), 52

Oxfordshire, enclosure of, 222

“Oxgangs,” 31

Palling (Norfolk), 127

Palmer, A. N.--“Ancient Tenures,” 174, 245; “Wrexham,” 20

Pang, R., 69

Parish Meeting, powers of, 50

Passenham (N. Hants.), 123

Pearce, W., “Berkshire,” 76

Pickering moor, 128

Pickering, vale of, 157

“Pindar,” 56

Pitt, W.--“Arable and Grassland,” 95; “Leicestershire,” 97, 200; “Staffordshire,” 252

“Places” (= Livings), 28

“Plowgait,” 172

Poor rates and enclosure, 102

Poppleton, 132

Potato growing in Axholme, 57

Potterne (Wilts.), 126

Poultney (Leicester), 208

Produce of common fields, 79, 111

Produce of enclosed land, 100, 111

Profit of enclosure, 98, 263

Quilleted fields, 42, 253

Quillets, 83, 266

“Ranes,” 257

Rathbone, G., “Eltham Charities,” 232

Recreation grounds, 18, 65, 71, 118

“Reeve,” 34, 89

Re-lifing copyholds, 19

Re-lifing leaseholds, 48

Renhold (Beds.), 44

Rents before and after enclosure, 100, 103, 111

Richmond Hill, view from, 66

“Rick Field,” 20

Rider Haggard, “Rural England,” 57, 138

“Ridge and Furrow,” 94

Riots and enclosure, 112

Robertson, J., “Perthshire,” 165, 173

“Robin Hood and Little John,” 17

Rockingham forest, 197, 204

“Rotation Meadows,” 35

“Rounds,” 88

Royal burghs of Scotland, 164

“Rundale,” 6

“Runrig,” 6, 166, 244

Rutland, enclosure of, 203

Sandwich Town Neck, 183

Salem north and south fields, 185

Salisbury, environs of, 235

Seebohm, F., “English Village Community,” 179

“Selions,” 56

“Shackage,” 45, 78, 79

“Shack Lands,” 78

“Shealing Feast,” 170

Sheepflock of village community, 22

Sheepwalk, right of, 45

Shilton (Berks.), 35

Shropshire, enclosure of, 252

“Sicks,” 11

Sinclair, Sir J., “Northern Counties of Scotland,” 165, 172

Six year course, 76

Skene, “Celtic Scotland,” 166, 173

Small holdings, 58, 61, 119

Small holdings, profit of, 121, 136, 139

Smith, Adam, “Wealth of Nations,” 94

Soham (Cambs.), 61, 210

Somerset, enclosure of, 242

“Souming,” 168

“Square Patch,” 27

Staffordshire, enclosure of, 252

“Stake Weir,” 27

Stamford (Lincoln), 177

Steeple Claydon, 75

Steventon (Berks.), 68, 71

“Stint Book,” 14

Stone, T.--“Bedfordshire,” 74; “Lincolnshire,” 77, 223

Stratton (Dorset), 19

Stratton common rights, 31

Stratton meadow, 24, 25

Studham, 44

Suffolk, enclosure of, 214

Surrey, enclosure of, 233

Sussex, enclosure of, 232

Sutton (N. Hants.), 46

Sutton Coldfield (Warwick), 254

“Tenantry,” 113

Tithe commutation and enclosure, 40, 188

Tithe maps, 188

“Thorn Field,” 16

Three field course, 8, 14, 74

“Three Patches,” 26

Todenham (Gloucester), 123

“Tofts,” 10

Totternhoe (Beds.), 63

Tudor licences for enclosure, 6

Tulvey (Beds.), 123

Turnip culture, 81

Tusser, “Champion and Several,” 82

Tythingman, 22

Two field course, 71, 76

Upton St. Leonards (Gloucester), 18, 63

Value of land in Axholme, 60

Vancouver--“Cambridgeshire,” 75, 209; “Essex,” 213

Venteland (Gwent), 253

“Viewers of the Fields,” 22

Village community, types of, 6

“Virgates,” 30

Wales, enclosure of, 243

Wales, W., 91

Walker, D., “Hertfordshire,” 75, 125

Wallingford (Berks.), 68

Wallington (Herts.), 45

“Walls,” 21

Water meadows, 116

Weald, enclosure of the, 232

Wedge--“Warwickshire,” 204, “Cheshire,” 101, 252

Wessex, type of village community, 19

Westmoreland, enclosure of, 256

Weston field, 62

Weston Zoyland (Somerset), 61

“Wheatfield,” 14

“Whitecorn field,” 71

White Horse, vale of, 238

“Whole Livings,” 21

“Whole Year Lands,” 80, 81

Wilbraham (Cambs.), 128

Wimeswould (Leicester), 127

Winslow (Bucks), 102

Wistow (Leicester), 100, 101

“Wood Field,” 16

Worcestershire, enclosure of, 242

Wordsworth, H. W., “Lake District,” 257

Wytham-on-the-Hill (Lincoln), 179

“Yardlands,” 30, 113

Yattenden (Berks.), 68, 69

Yelden (Beds.), 44

Yelling (Hunts.), 180

Yorkshire, enclosure of, 224

Yorkshire wolds, 77

Young, A.--“Lincolnshire,” 53, 177, 263; “Eastern Tour,” 94, 107, 201, 217, 221; “Northern Tour,” 94, 107, 195, 224, 226, 230; “Political Arithmetic,” 105; “Wastes,” 126, 128

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NEW WORK BY SIDNEY AND BEATRICE WEBB. ─────────────────────────────────────

English Local Government from the Revolution to the Municipal Corporations Act--The Parish and the County.

Published 1 Oct., 1906. Post 8vo, with Index, 650 pp. Price 16s. net.

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More than that of any other Anglo-Saxon country, English Local Government is rooted in the past, and its contemporary problems can be neither fully understood nor adequately solved without a knowledge of how they have arisen. This work, the first fruits of seven years’ investigation into the development of English Local Government, combines a detailed history of local administration in parish and county throughout England and Wales from 1689 to 1835, with a descriptive analysis of the interesting constitutional evolution of this most fruitful period, when local authorities were practically free from supervision or control.

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STUDIES IN ECONOMICS

AND

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A Series of Monographs by Lecturers and Students connected with the London School of Economics and Political Science.

_EDITED BY THE_

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=1. THE HISTORY OF LOCAL RATES IN ENGLAND.= The substance of Five Lectures given at the School in November and December, 1895. By EDWIN CANNAN, M.A., LL.D. 1896. 140 _pp._, _Crown 8vo_, Cloth. 2_s._ 6_d._

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=2. SELECT DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATING THE HISTORY OF TRADE UNIONISM.= I.--The Tailoring Trade. By F. W. GALTON. With a Preface by SIDNEY WEBB, LL.B. 1896. 242 _pp._, _Crown 8vo_, Cloth. 5s.

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=3. GERMAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY.= Six Lectures delivered at the School in February and March, 1896. By the HON. BERTRAND RUSSELL, B.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. With an Appendix on Social Democracy and the Woman Question in Germany. By ALYS RUSSELL, B.A. 1896. 204 _pp._, _Crown 8vo_, Cloth. 3_s._ 6_d._

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=4. THE REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND.= By M. SIMON DEPLOIGE, University of Louvain. With a Letter on the Referendum in Belgium by M. J. VAN DEN HEUVEL, Professor of International Law in the University of Louvain. Translated by C. P. TREVELYAN, M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge, and edited with Notes, Introduction, Bibliography, and Appendices, by LILIAN TOMN, of Girton College, Cambridge, Research Student at the School. 1898. x. and 334 _pp._, _Crown 8vo_, Cloth. 7_s._ 6_d._

P. S. KING & SON.

=5. THE ECONOMIC POLICY OF COLBERT.= By A. J. SARGENT, M.A., Senior Hulme Exhibitioner, Brasenose College, Oxford; and Whately Prizeman, 1897, Trinity College, Dublin. 1899. viii. and 138 _pp._, _Crown 8vo_, Cloth. 2_s._ 6_d._

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=6. LOCAL VARIATIONS IN WAGES.= (The Adam Smith Prize, Cambridge University, 1898.) By F. W. LAWRENCE, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 1899. viii. and 90 _pp._, with Index and 18 Maps and Diagrams; _Quarto_, 11 _in._ by 8½ _in._, Cloth. 8_s._ 6_d._

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=7. THE RECEIPT ROLL OF THE EXCHEQUER FOR MICHAELMAS TERM OF THE THIRTY-FIRST YEAR OF HENRY THE SECOND (1185).= A unique fragment transcribed and edited by the Class in Palæography and Diplomatic, under the supervision of the Lecturer, HUBERT HALL, F.S.A., of H.M. Public Record Office. With thirty-one Facsimile Plates in Collotype, and Parallel Readings from the contemporary Pipe Roll. 1899. vii. and 37 _pp._; _Folio_, 15½ _in._ by 11½ _in._, Green Cloth; two copies left. £2 15_s._ 0_d._ _net_. Apply to the Director, The School of Economics.

=8. ELEMENTS OF STATISTICS.= By ARTHUR L. BOWLEY, M.A., F.S.S., Cobden and Adam Smith Prizeman, Cambridge; Guy Silver Medallist of the Royal Statistical Society; Newmarch Lecturer, 1897–98. 500 _pp._, _Demy 8vo_, Cloth. 40 Diagrams. 1901. Second Edition, 1902. viii. and 336 _pp._ 10_s._ 6_d._ _net_.

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=9. THE PLACE OF COMPENSATION IN TEMPERANCE REFORM.= By C. P. SANGER, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; Barrister-at-Law. 1901. viii. and 136 _pp._, _Crown 8vo_, Cloth. 2_s._ 6_d._ _net_.

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=10. A HISTORY OF FACTORY LEGISLATION, 1802–1901.= By B. L. HUTCHINS and A. HARRISON, B.A., D.Sc. London. With a Preface by SIDNEY WEBB, LL.B. 1903, xviii. and 372 _pp._, _Demy 8vo_, Cloth. 10_s._ 6_d._ _net_. Cheap Edition, 3_s._ 6_d._

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=11. THE “PIPE ROLL” OF THE “EXCHEQUER” OF THE SEE OF WINCHESTER FOR THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE EPISCOPATE OF PETER DES ROCHES (1207).= Transcribed and edited from the original Roll in the possession of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners by the Class in Palæography and Diplomatic, under the supervision of the Lecturer, HUBERT HALL, F.S.A., of H.M. Public Record Office. With a Frontispiece giving a Facsimile of the Roll. 1903. xlviii. and 100 _pp._, _Folio_, 13½ _in._ by 8½ _in._, Green Cloth. 15_s._ _net_.

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=12. SELF-GOVERNMENT IN CANADA AND HOW IT WAS ACHIEVED: The Story of Lord Durham’s Report.= By F. BRADSHAW, B.A., Senior Hulme Exhibitioner, Brasenose College, Oxford. 1903. 414 _pp._, _Demy 8vo_, Cloth. 10_s._ 6_d._ _net_. Cheap Edition, 3_s._ 6_d._

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=13. HISTORY OF THE COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN ENGLAND AND IRELAND FROM THE PERIOD OF THE RESTORATION.= By ALICE EFFIE MURRAY, D.Sc., former Student at Girton College, Cambridge; Research Student of the London School of Economics and Political Science. 1903. 486 _pp._ _Demy 8vo_, Cloth. 10_s._ 6_d._ _net_. Cheap Edition, 3_s._ 6_d._

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=14. THE ENGLISH PEASANTRY AND THE ENCLOSURE OF COMMON FIELDS.= By GILBERT SLATER, M.A., St. John’s College, Cambridge, D.Sc. (London). 1906. 337 _pp._, _Demy 8vo_, Cloth. 10_s._ 6_d._ _net_.

A. CONSTABLE & CO.

* * * * * *

Transcriber’s Note

Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the paragraph (or, where relevant, quotation) to which they refer. A few missing footnote anchors have been added.

Maps were originally included as plates, they have been moved to be near the text they illustrate.

Some formatting and punctuation of abbreviations have been standardized, and formatting and punctuation in lists has been made consistent.

Appendix B, Private acts enclosing common fields, was printed in two columns with, within counties, a “Carried forward” total at the end of each column, and a corresponding “Brought forward” total at the start of the next. These totals are shown here in parenthesis, e.g. {8,309}, to the right at their original position.

Variant spelling, inconsistent hyphenation, and inconsistent spelling of place names are retained, however a few palpable printing errors have been corrected.

Other changes that have been made are:

Page 14, footnote 2 “43 Geo. III. c. 81” has been changed to “13 Geo. III. c. 81”.

Page 44, the reference to “the enclosure of Totternhoe” has been changed from page 65 to page 63.

The first anchor for footnote 46, on page 98, originally pointed to a footnote which said “See note ¹ on next page.”

Page 108, “10,625” has been changed to “10,265” for the net gain of acres under wheat after enclosure.

Page 296, “Balckbourton” has been changed to “Blackbourton”.

Page 313, the pre 1845 total for Yorkshire, North Riding has been changed from 3,171 to 31,171.

Page 310, in the totals for Yorkshire West Riding “Before 1842” has been changed to “Before 1802”.

Page 329, “13 GEORGE IV. (1773), c. 81” has been changed to “13 GEORGE III. (1773), c. 81”.

The following have been kept as printed:

Page 201, Footnote 94 Some words have been omitted from this rendition of the quotation. Arthur Young wrote: “They daub it in lumps on all the walls of their houses, barns, stables, etc. to dry”.

Page 274, Derbyshire, the acreage in the entry “1773 Church Broughton” of “160 A. F., 100 A. P.” does not add up to the 360 total given. However the 360 total has been used in the Carried forward sub-total.

Page 274, Derbyshire, the out of sequence date 1786 following 1787 has been left as printed.

Page 281, in the last entry for Hertfordshire, “Layston and Widdial”, “Date of Act” and “Date of Award” have been left blank, as printed.