THE ENGLISH LAND SYSTEM 59 



In 1534 an Act was passed with the following signi- 

 ficant preamble : — 



"Inasmuch as divers of the King's subjects, to 

 whom God of His goodness hath disposed great 

 plenty and abundance, now of late years have daily 

 studied and practised ways and means how they might 

 accumulate into few hands, as well as great multitude 

 of farms, as great plenty of cattle, and in special 

 sheep, putting such lands as they can get to pasture, 

 and not to tillage, whereby they have not only pulled 

 down churches and towns and enhanced the old rents, 

 or else brought it to such excessive fines that no poor 

 man is able to meddle with it . . . the great reason 

 that moveth these greedy and covetous people to 

 accumulate in their hands such great portions of the 

 lands of the realm, from the occupying of the poor 

 husbandman, is the great profit that cometh from 

 sheep, some having as many as 24,000," etc. etc. 



The Act goes on to provide that under heavy 

 penalties no one person shall keep more than 2000 

 sheep. ^ 



^ Many other Acts of the same kind and with the same objects were 

 passed in successive reigns. See Statutes at large, Edward VI, 

 chap. 5 ; 4 Henry VII, chap. l6 ; 7 Henry VIII, chap. l ; 6 Henry VIII, 

 chap. 5 ; 27 Henry VIII, chap. 22 ; 39 Elizabeth, chap. I : and others. 



In 1 517 a Commission was appointed to inquire into the operation of 

 the above statutes "against ingrossing and inclosure." Cardinal Wolsey, 

 in 1 5 18, issued a decree ordering the inclosers, under heavy penalties, to 

 "pull down and lay abroad all inclosures and ditches made since the 

 statute of I Henry VII." (1485). To those who wish to study this ques- 

 tion the following important work will be found useful, " Domesday of 

 Inclosures, 1517-18," edited for the Royal Historical Societj' by J. S. 

 Leadam, m.a. (Longmans, 1897). The extent to which the statutes in 

 question had been set at naught is shown by such passages as the follow- 

 ing : " Six messuages occupied with 280 acres of land all razed to the 

 ground." " Evictions and displacement of labour of 670 persons accom- 

 panied by destruction of 119 dwellings," etc. etc. The arable land, when 

 turned into sheep-farms, rose enormously in value on account of the high 

 price of wool. Farm-houses being no longer wanted were pulled down. 



