Editing Enclosure (section)

{{Short description|In England, appropriation of common land}}
{{distinguish|Exclosure}}
{{other uses}}
{{use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Feudal status}}
'''Enclosure''' or '''inclosure'''{{efn|The words "enclosure" and "inclosure" are used in this article. Although the two words are used interchangeably there is a fundamental difference between them. An enclosure is a physical boundary around a piece of land. Inclosure is a legal term that refers to the conversion of common land into private land. When land is inclosed the rights of the commoner cease.{{sfn|Staff|2024}}}} is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste"{{efn|name=waste|Land of a poor quality that was only useful for grazing animals or collecting fuel. Holdings described "not in use" or "waste" paid no tax.{{sfn|Friar|2004|pages=144–145}}{{sfn|Amt|1991|pages=240–248}}}} or "[[common land]]"{{efn|name=common|Although 'owned' by the manorial lord, commoners had legal rights over the land and the manorial lord could not enclose it.{{sfn|Friar|2004|pages=144–145}}}}, 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.{{sfn|Kain|Chapman|Oliver|2004|pp=9–10}} The process could normally be accomplished in three ways. First there was the creation of "closes",{{efn|name=closes|Small fields or paddocks usually created by the partitioning of larger ancient open field.{{sfn|Friar|2004|p=90}}}} taken out of larger common fields by their owners.{{efn|By 1750 this had led to the loss of up to half the common fields of many English villages.{{sfn|Cahill|2002|page=37}}}} Secondly, there was enclosure by proprietors, owners who acted together, usually small farmers or squires, leading to the enclosure of whole parishes. Finally there were [[inclosure act|enclosures by acts of Parliament]].{{sfn|Cahill|2002|page=37}}

The stated justification for enclosure was to improve the efficiency of agriculture.{{sfnm|1a1=McCloskey|1y=1972|1pp=15–35|2a1=Allen|2y=1992|2pp=1-21,37-55,[[List of Latin phrases (E)#et passim|''et passim'']]}} However, there were other motives too, one example being that the value of the land enclosed would be substantially increased.{{sfn|Mingay|2014|page=33}} There were social consequences to the policy, with many protests at the removal of rights from the common people. Enclosure riots are seen by historians as 'the pre-eminent form' of social protest from the 1530s to 1640s.{{sfn|McCloskey|1972|pages=15–35}}{{sfn|Liddy|2015|pages=41–77}}