General Enclosures: Three Regional Examples

Abstract

The process of general enclosure now needs to be examined more closely through detailed discussion of regional examples. Emphasis is still placed on the distributional aspects of enclosure, on chronology and the geographical mix of closes and common field that existed at various dates. But I hope also to demonstrate the manner in which these relate to, and express, the social and economic factors that controlled the enclosure process, both in aggregate and at the personal level. Three districts cannot, of course, contain all the infinite variety of conditions that were experienced, but they have been selected to show the most important themes in contrasting milieu, and in areas that have been carefully studied.