Editing Inclosure act (section)

{{short description|Series of Acts that empowered enclosure of open fields and common land in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
The '''inclosure acts'''{{efn|"Enclosure" and "inclosure" are words that are frequently used interchangeably, but there is a fundamental difference between them: an "enclosure" is a physical boundary around a piece of land; "inclosure" is the legal term that refers to the conversion of common land into private land. All British acts of Parliament use the term "Inclosure".<ref>{{cite web|author=Staff|title=Enclosure (Inclosure)|publisher=Thomson Reuters Practical law|url=https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/Glossary/UKPracticalLaw/Ia3ab2042e6cb11e9adfea82903531a62|access-date=20 March 2024|year=2024}}</ref>}} created legal property rights to land previously held in common in [[England and Wales]], particularly [[open field system|open fields]] and [[common land]]. Between 1604 and 1914 over 5,200 individual acts [[enclosure|enclosing]] public land were passed, affecting 28,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>{{cite web|title=Enclosing the Land|url=http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/towncountry/landscape/overview/enclosingland/|work=www.parliament.uk|access-date=12 December 2013}}</ref>