111 The Enclosure Act
25.1.3: The Enclosure Act
Enclosure, or the process that ended traditional rights on common land formerly held in the open field system and restricted the use of land to the owner, is one of the causes of the Agricultural Revolution and a key factor behind the labor migration from rural areas to gradually industrializing cities.
Learning Objective
Interpret the consequences of enclosure
Key Points
- Common land is owned collectively by a number of persons or by one person with others holding certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, collect firewood, or cut turf for fuel. A person who has a right in or over common land jointly with others is called a commoner.
- Most of the medieval common land of England was lost due to enclosure. In English social and economic history, enclosure was the process that ended traditional rights on common land formerly held in the open field system. Once enclosed, these land uses were restricted to the owner, and the land ceased to be for the use of commoners.
- The process of enclosure became a widespread feature of the English agricultural landscape during the 16th century. By the 19th century, unenclosed commons became largely restricted to large rough pastures in mountainous areas and relatively small residual parcels of land in the lowlands.
- Enclosure could be accomplished by buying the ground rights and all common rights to accomplish exclusive rights of use, which increased the value of the land. The other method was by passing laws causing or forcing enclosure, such as parliamentary enclosures. The latter process was sometimes accompanied by force, resistance, and bloodshed, and remains among the most controversial areas of agricultural and economic history in England.
- Parliamentary enclosures consolidated strips in the open fields into more compact units and enclosed much of the remaining pasture commons or wastes. They usually provided commoners with some other land in compensation for the loss of common rights, although this was often of poor quality and limited extent. They were also used for the division and privatization of common “wastes” (in the original sense of uninhabited places). Voluntary enclosure was also frequent at that time.
- Enclosure faced a great deal of popular resistance because of its effects on the household economies of smallholders and landless laborers, who were often pushed out of the rural areas. Enclosure is also considered one of the causes of the Agricultural Revolution. Enclosed land was under control of the farmer, who was free to adopt better farming practices. Following enclosure, crop yields and livestock output increased while at the same time productivity increased enough to create a surplus of labor. The increased labor supply is considered one of the factors facilitating the Industrial Revolution.
Key Terms
- Industrial Revolution
- The transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1