The Inclosure Act 1773 (13 Geo 3. c. 81) (also known as the Enclosure Act 1773) is an Act of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

of the

Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, wh ...

, passed during the reign of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. The Act is still in force in the United Kingdom. It created a law that enabled

enclosure 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 rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

of land, at the same time removing the right of commoners' access.

Effect

The Act required the procedure to start with a petition delivered to Parliament signed by the landowner,

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

holders and a majority of people affected. The petition then went through the stages of a bill with a committee meeting to hear any objections. The petition would then go through to

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

after passing through both Houses of Parliament.

Commissioners A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

would then visit the area and distribute the land accordingly. The powers granted in the Inclosure Act were often abused by landowners: the preliminary meetings where enclosure was discussed, intended to be held in public, were often made in the presence of only the local landowners. They regularly chose their own solicitors, surveyors and Commissioners to decide on each case. In 1774, Parliament added an amendment to the Act under the Standing Orders that every petition for enclosure had to be affixed to the door of the local church for three consecutive Sundays in August or September. The Act eventually limited the amount of traffic on culverted paths as they often fell within land that was to be enclosed. This often meant that traffic eventually stopped going along certain routes such as the culverted path next to

Shit Brook Shit Brook is a culverted small stream in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, England. History The stream, which was named Shit Brook because it was the open sewer for the town, ran parallel with the road leading towards the Holy Trinity Church. In th ...

Much Wenlock Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villa ...

.{{cite web , url=http://www.search.secretshropshire.org.uk/engine/resource/exhibition/sequential/default.asp?theme=&originator=%2Fengine%2Ftheme%2Fdefault.asp&page=6&records=9609&direction=1&pointer=15512&text=0&resource=4212 , title=Introduction: Much Wenlock town culvert , publisher=Shropshire County Council , date=2003 , accessdate=6 May 2013 , archive-url=https://archive.today/20130423222647/http://www.search.secretshropshire.org.uk/engine/resource/exhibition/sequential/default.asp?theme=&originator=/engine/theme/default.asp&page=6&records=9609&direction=1&pointer=15512&text=0&resource=4212 , archive-date=23 April 2013 , url-status=dead

References

External links

Peter Lazenby: Give back Britain's common land (The Guardian)
Great Britain Acts of Parliament 1773 Enclosures

Effect

See also

References

External links