WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
The English Peasantry and the Enclosure of Common Fields cover

The English Peasantry and the Enclosure of Common Fields

Chapter 17: XIII. STATISTICAL SUMMARY OF ENCLOSURE BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT
By Gilbert Slater
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

History - BritishHistory - Modern (1750+)History - OtherHistory - Schools & Universities

About This Book

A historical and economic study of the enclosure of common fields in England, tracing the process through maps, parish case studies, and statistical appendices. It outlines different village systems, surveys remaining open-field parishes, and examines instances such as the Isle of Axholme and recent enclosures. It distinguishes Parliamentary and extra-Parliamentary enclosure, treats related practices like run-rig, and compares English patterns with New England. The work assesses agricultural consequences including depopulation, the rise of landless labour, and poverty, and draws implications for rural policy, arguing for measures to restore communal access to land and cooperative agricultural practice.

CHAPTER XIII
STATISTICAL SUMMARY OF ENCLOSURE BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT.

In this table the cross-heading A includes Acts up to and including the year 1801, in which year a general Act facilitating enclosure was passed; cross-heading B, Acts from 1802–1845; cross-heading C, enclosures under the General Enclosure Act of 1845 and subsequent amending Acts. No Act or enclosure is included unless the enclosure was partly of arable common field, but in some few cases, as will be seen from the Appendix giving the chief particulars of each Act, the arable land formed only a trifling part of the area dealt with.

Where the area enclosed is not stated, and cannot even be approximately inferred from the wording of the Act, it is estimated on the assumption that the average area per Act where the area is not stated, is the same as for Acts relating to the same county where the area affected is stated, enclosures under the Act of 1845 being left out of account. This method, I believe, gives more satisfactory results than any other would; but it must be confessed that in the case of Norfolk the Acts in which the area is not stated are so many, and those in which it is stated are so few, that the average obtained is not trustworthy. In this case I believe the figure arrived at is too large. The counties are arranged in order of prevalence of Parliamentary enclosures.

  Area stated. Area not stated. Total. Percentage
of Area
of County.
Acts. Acres. Acts. Acres. Acts. Acres.
Northampton.              
Period A 137 237,211 6 10,306 143 247,517  
″ B 40 66,807 7 12,023 47 78,830  
″ C 3 4,704 — — 3 4,704  
Total 180 308,722 13 22,329 193 331,051 51·5
Huntingdon.              
Period A 30 50,147 7 11,392 37 61,539  
″ B 25 39,364 2 3,255 27 42,619  
″ C 3 3,855 — — 3 3,855  
Total 58 93,366 9 14,647 67 108,013 46·5
Rutland.              
Period A 20 33,857 2 3,323 22 37,180  
″ B 2 2,700 — — 2 2,700  
″ C 6 7,344 — — 6 7,344  
Total 28 43,901 2 3,323 30 47,224 46·5
Bedford.              
Period A 30 55,470 13 21,229 43 76,699  
″ B 21 27,810 15 24,495 36 52,305  
″ C 5 8,309 — — 5 8,309  
Total 56 91,589 28 45,724 84 137,313 46·0
Oxford.              
Period A 54 96,596 22 35,277 76 131,873  
″ B 20 22,064 22 35,277 42 57,341  
″ C 18 23,578 — — 18 23,578  
Total 92 142,238 44 70,554 136 212,792 45·6
Yorks, East
Riding.		              
Period A 108 227,009 6 12,148 114 239,157  
″ B 25 42,277 7 14,173 32 56,450  
″ C 4 5,193 — — 4 5,193  
Total 137 274,479 13 26,321 150 300,800 40·1
Leicester.              
Period A 124 175,280 9 12,437 133 187,717  
″ B 10 9,896 2 2,764 12 12,660  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 134 185,176 11 15,201 145 200,377 38·2
Cambridge.              
Period A 20 45,230 3 5,789 23 51,019  
″ B 21 33,885 55 106,128 76 140,013  
″ C 9 8,298 — — 9 8,298  
Total 50 87,413 58 111,917 108 199,330 36·3
Buckingham.              
Period A 47 71,323 23 35,834 70 107,157  
″ B 20 33,090 10 15,580 30 48,670  
″ C 6 7,014 — — 6 7,014  
Total 73 111,427 33 51,414 106 162,841 34·2
Nottingham.              
Period A 64 112,880 18 29,217 82 142,097  
″ B 17 18,596 7 11,362 24 29,958  
″ C 3 3,269 — — 3 3,269  
Total 84 134,745 25 40,579 109 175,324 32·5
Norfolk.              
Period A 28 71,904 36 76,066 64 147,970  
″ B 16 21,966 114 240,877 130 262,843  
″ C 6 12,173 — — 6 12,173  
Total 50 106,043 150 316,943 200 422,986 32·3
Lincoln.              
Period A 175 354,048 15 29,240 190 383,288  
″ B 53 90,398 11 21,443 64 111,841  
″ C 2 1,331 — — 2 1,331  
Total 230 445,777 26 50,683 256 496,450 29·3
Berkshire.              
Period A 12 13,651 23 28,980 35 42,631  
″ B 33 42,652 20 25,200 53 67,852  
″ C 10 9,119 — — 10 9,119  
Total 55 65,422 43 54,180 98 119,602 26·0
Warwick.              
Period A 85 116,919 6 7,909 91 124,828  
″ B 12 10,950 8 10,546 20 21,496  
″ C 3 3,235 — — 3 3,235  
Total 100 131,104 14 18,455 114 149,559 25·0
Wiltshire.              
Period A 18 30,949 47 80,211 65 111,160  
″ B 27 45,849 30 51,199 57 97,048  
″ C 6 3,925 — — 6 3,925  
Total 51 80,723 77 131,410 128 212,133 24·1
Gloucester.              
Period A 53 78,645 30 37,724 83 116,369  
″ B 18 20,616 30 37,724 48 58,340  
″ C 11 4,419 — — 11 4,419  
Total 82 103,680 60 75,448 142 179,128 22·5
Middlesex.              
Period A 5 11,854 3 4,114 8 15,968  
″ B 12 12,251 5 6,913 17 19,164  
″ C 1 625 — — 1 625  
Total 18 24,730 8 11,027 26 35,757 19·7
Worcester.              
Period A 29 36,942 10 11,317 39 48,259  
″ B 9 6,066 24 27,161 33 33,227  
″ C 7 4,009 — — 7 4,009  
Total 45 46,017 34 38,478 79 85,495 16·5
Derby.              
Period A 37 45,028 9 13,312 46 58,340  
″ B 25 46,675 — — 25 46,675  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 62 91,703 9 13,312 71 105,015 15·9
Hertford.              
Period A 11 20,524 4 6,103 15 26,627  
″ B 8 8,464 5 7,628 13 16,092  
″ C 17 10,775 — — 17 10,775  
Total 36 39,763 9 13,731 45 53,494 13·1
Yorks, West
Riding.		              
Period A 67 82,389 17 23,736 84 106,125  
″ B 55 88,453 7 9,774 62 98,227  
″ C 4 2,102 — — 4 2,102  
Total 126 172,944 24 33,510 150 206,454 11·6
Dorset.              
Period A 9 13,704 8 8,533 17 22,237  
″ B 23 20,426 8 8,532 31 28,958  
″ C 6 3,786 — — 6 3,786  
Total 38 37,916 16 17,065 54 54,981 8·7
Suffolk.              
Period A 4 6,400 6 9,876 10 16,276  
″ B 14 13,356 24 39,505 38 52,861  
″ C 5 2,450 — — 5 2,450  
Total 23 22,206 30 49,381 53 71,587 7·5
Hampshire              
Period A 12 15,459 23 25,649 35 41,108  
″ B 13 12,856 8 10,664 21 23,520  
″ C 4 1,512 — — 4 1,512  
Total 29 29,827 31 36,313 60 66,140 6·4
Surrey.              
Period A 4 5,140 2 2,562 6 7,702  
″ B 11 14,078 5 6,406 16 20,484  
″ C 5 2,796 — — 5 2,796  
Total 20 22,014 7 8,968 27 30,982 6·4
Yorks, North
Riding.		              
Period A 24 33,257 9 15,279 33 48,536  
″ B 14 31,171 3 5,093 17 36,264  
″ C 2 1,034 — — 2 1,034  
Total 40 65,462 12 20,372 52 85,834 6·3
Hereford.              
Period A 5 3,920 1 708 6 4,628  
″ B 6 3,870 14 9,915 20 13,785  
″ C 3 378 — — 3 378  
Total 14 8,168 15 10,623 29 18,791 3·6
Somerset.              
Period A 12 16,225 3 2,644 15 18,869  
″ B 23 14,623 4 3,525 27 18,148  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 35 30,848 7 6,169 42 37,017 3·5
Stafford.              
Period A 10 10,924 1 996 11 11,920  
″ B 7 6,001 3 2,987 10 8,988  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 17 16,925 4 3,983 21 20,908 2·8
Essex.              
Period A 4 6,551 — — 4 6,551  
″ B 4 6,190 3 4,777 7 10,967  
″ C 10 4,652 — — 10 4,652  
Total 18 17,393 3 4,777 21 22,170 2·2
Sussex.              
Period A 1 1,400 — — 1 1,400  
″ B 18 13,537 4 3,145 22 16,682  
″ C 2 248 — — 2 248  
Total 21 15,185 4 3,145 25 18,330 1·9
Northumberland.              
Period A 4 9,657 — — 4 9,657  
″ B 4 12,691 — — 4 12,691  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 8 22,348 — — 8 22,348 1·7
Cumberland.              
Period A 1 4,000 1 2,175 2 6,175  
″ B 3 4,700 — — 3 4,700  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 4 8,700 1 2,175 5 10,875 1·1
Durham.              
Period A 5 4,437 — — 5 4,437  
″ B 1 200 — — 1 200  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 6 4,637 — — 6 4,637 0·7
Westmoreland.              
Period A — — — — — —  
″ B 4 3,237 — — 4 3,237  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 4 3,237 — — 2 3,237 0·6
Cheshire.              
Period A — — — — — —  
″ B 2 3,326 — — 2 3,326  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 2 3,326 — — 2 3,326 0·5
Monmouth.              
Period A 1 780 — — 1 780  
″ B — — — — — —  
″ C 3 513 — — 3 513  
Total 4 1,293 — — 4 1,293 0·4
Shropshire.              
Period A 3 1,670 — — 3 1,670  
″ B 2 1,140 — — 2 1,140  
″ C — — — — — —  
Total 5 2,810 — — 5 2,810 0·3

Lancashire, Kent, Devon and Cornwall have no Acts for Enclosure of Common Fields.