In the latter part of the 16th century, there was a general movement in England to enclose the common land and waste land on which small farmers grazed their stock and to reduce the number of field strips used for growing crops.
Under the open field system, several landowners had strips in each large field, probably arranged originally to give everyone a fair share of good and bad land. At enclosure, land was re-apportioned between the various landowners, in general putting land together and swapping it around, so that larger closes were formed within the larger fields to replace the smaller field strips.
The wealthy usually came out of it well but some of the smallholders and cottagers who relied on common grazing were forced to migrate to towns and cities to find work.
The enclosure awards also specified which landowner was going to be responsible for building fences around each new field. Where there were commons, this land was also often divided up between those who had rights to use it. The process made agriculture more efficient but it changed drastically the way people lived in rural communities.
Under the open field system, several landowners had strips in each large field, probably arranged originally to give everyone a fair share of good and bad land. At enclosure, land was re-apportioned between the various landowners, in general putting land together and swapping it around, so that larger closes were formed within the larger fields to replace the smaller field strips.
The wealthy usually came out of it well but some of the smallholders and cottagers who relied on common grazing were forced to migrate to towns and cities to find work.
The enclosure awards also specified which landowner was going to be responsible for building fences around each new field. Where there were commons, this land was also often divided up between those who had rights to use it. The process made agriculture more efficient but it changed drastically the way people lived in rural communities.
