The Enclosures of the 18th Century

In Our Time: History

BBC

History

4.4 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2008

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the enclosure movement of the 18th and 19th centuries. In the early 19th century, the Northamptonshire poet John Clare took a good look at the countryside and didn’t like what he saw. He wrote: "Fence meeting fence in owners little boundsOf field and meadow, large as garden-grounds,In little parcels little minds to please,With men and flocks imprisoned, ill at ease."Enclosure means literally enclosing a field with a fence or a hedge to prevent others using it. This seemingly innocuous act triggered a revolution in land holding that dispossessed many, enriched a few but helped make the agricultural and industrial revolutions possible. It saw the dominance of private property as the model of ownership, as against the collective rights of previous generations. For some Enclosure underpinned the economic and agricultural development of Modern Britain. But it has also been a cause celebre for the political left ever since Karl Marx argued that enclosures created the industrialised working class and ushered in the capitalist society. What really happened during the era of 18th and 19th century enclosures? Who gained, who lost and what role did Enclosures play in the agricultural and industrial transformation of this country? With Rosemary Sweet, Director of the Centre for Urban History at the University of Leicester; Murray Pittock, Bradley Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow; Mark Overton, Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Exeter.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for downloading the NRTIME podcast. For more details about NRTIME and for our terms of use, please go to bbc.co.uk forward slash radio for.
0:09.0	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:14.0	Hello, in the early 19th century the North Hamptonshire so-called peasant poet, John Clare, took a look at the countryside and didn't like what he saw.
0:22.0	He wrote, fence meeting fence in owners little bounds of field and meadow, large as gardens grounds.
0:29.0	In little parcels little minds to please, with men and flocks imprisoned ill at ease.
0:34.0	He is referring to the effects of the 18th century enclosures, literally the fencing in of land to stop others from using it.
0:41.0	This apparent the simple act has been hugely controversial.
0:44.0	For some, enclosures underpin the economic and agricultural development of modern Britain.
0:49.0	For others, he was an active theft, the turning of common land into private property that impoverished the many for the sake of the few.
0:56.0	But what really happened during the era of 18th and early 19th century enclosures?
1:00.0	Who gained, who lost, and what role did enclosures play in the agricultural and industrial transformation of this country?
1:07.0	With me to discuss the enclosures of the 18th century, I'm Mark Overton, Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of Exeter.
1:13.0	Rosemary Street, Director of the Centre for Urban History at Lester University on Marrippitic,
1:18.0	Grandly Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow.
1:21.0	Rosemary Street, can you explain to us what enclosure actually means?
1:25.0	Well, enclosure took place when there was a transfer from the traditional system of open field farming to a system where you had enclosed fields.
1:35.0	What would happen is that, before enclosure, you would have a system of open fields which might be several hundred acres and size.
1:43.0	And these would be divided up into strips which the property owners would farm.
1:48.0	These strips might be scattered and they weren't separated by fences or hedges.
1:53.0	They were simply strips of land within these large several hundred acre fields.
1:58.0	They would also be land which was common land which would be used for grazing.
2:02.0	What happens through enclosure is that these strips are consolidated so that the property owners end up with unified units of land.
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