252 OPEN-FIELD FARMS AND PASTURE COMMONS 



the House of Commons. Finally, in 1801, the first General Enclosure 

 Act (41 Geo. III. c. 109) was passed " for consolidating in one Act 

 certain provisions usually inserted in Acts of Inclosure, and for 

 facilitating the mode of proving the several facts usually required 

 on the passing of such Acts." No alteration in the machinery of 

 enclosure was made. Private Acts of Parliament were still required. 

 But they were simplified, and to some extent the expense was 

 reduced. The effect was at once seen in an increase in the number 

 of private Acts and a diminution in the size of the areas which 

 each enclosed. 



The Act of 1801 was mainly applied to commons. Open-fields 

 were specifically dealt with by subsequent legislation. In 1836, 

 an Act (6 and 7 Wm. IV. c. 115) was passed " for facilitating the 

 inclosure of open and arable fields." It empowered two-thirds 

 of the possessors of open-field rights, in number and value, to 

 nominate commissioners and carry out enclosure ; or seven-eighths, 

 in number and value, to enclose without the intervention of com- 

 missioners. The debate in Parliament is chiefly noticeable for 

 the stress which, for the first time since the days of Elizabeth, was 

 laid on the desirability of preserving commons as breathing-places 

 and play-grounds. In the Bill itself the point was not really 

 raised. But, as the nineteenth century advanced, this aspect of 

 the question of enclosing commons and wastes became increas- 

 ingly important. It was prominent in the General Inclosure 

 Act of 1845 (8 and 9 Vic. c. 118). The principal change made in 

 this Act was the substitution of Inclosure Commissioners for the 

 Parliamentary Committee as a local tribunal of enquiry, before 

 which the necessary examination could be conducted on the spot. 

 But Parliamentary control was not abandoned. All the schemes 

 framed by the Commissioners in each given year were embodied 

 in a general Act, and submitted to Parliament for sanction. The 

 administration of the Inclosure Acts is now entrusted to the Board 

 of Agriculture. As a State department, the Board can deal with 

 open-fields and commons on broader lines than the strict inter- 

 pretation of the statute, which constituted their authority, allowed 

 to the Inclosure Commissioners. 



