Enclosures

Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enclose land could be either through a formal or informal process. The process could normally be accomplished in three ways. First there was the creation of "closes", taken out of larger common fields by their owners. Secondly, there was enclosure by proprietors, owners who acted together, usually small farmers or squires, leading to the enclosure of whole p

the mass eviction of tenants from the Scottish Highlands in the 18th and 19th centuries

1549 revolt in Norfolk, England during the reign of Edward VI, largely in response to the enclosure of land

village and civil parish in South Derbyshire district, Derbyshire, England

series of Acts that empowered enclosure of open fields and common land in England