COMMONS 51 



eight townships had " Common Fields " to the extent of 425 acres 

 in all. 



Acts for the inclosure of the commons contained provisions for 

 setting out both public and private roads, to be made under the awards, 

 and these roads when constructed greatly facilitated the attendance 

 of farmers at markets and fairs for the disposal of the increased crops 

 produced from the newly inclosed commons. Separate Acts of 

 Parliament were passed for the inclosure of each common till the 

 Inclosure Acts of 1854 to 1899 were passed, under which provisional 

 orders were made for inclosing fifteen commons in the county. In 

 only a few exceptional cases were special Acts required after 1854. 

 Prior to 1800 nine awards had been made in the county, affecting 

 some 10,000 acres of land ; of these awards eight were in the 

 East Ward, one of which, Orton, constituted more than half the 

 acreage, the other was in the West Ward. Several other Acts of Parlia- 

 ment had been passed prior to 1800, but the awards under them had 

 not been made, progress in carrying them into effect being very slow 

 and tedious, and in one case, Shap, the original Act for which, was 

 passed in 1767, had to be replaced by a subsequent Act in 1813 — the 

 commissioners appointed having died without making the award or 

 appointing successors to carry on the work. Similarly, the Acts 

 relating to the inclosures of Reagill and Sleagill, originally passed in 

 1767 and 1779, were repealed, and each re-enacted in 1803. 



The earliest award made under an Act was in 1772, though there 

 had been an award made under an agreement in 1765, viz. : Colby 

 Pasture in the parish of Appleby. A still earlier one was that of Swine 

 Park, Kendal, which was sold by the Corporation for the benefit of 

 the Workhouse in 1739, it had been inclosed at an earlier date and 

 appropriated to the pasturage of swine. But perhaps the earliest 

 agreement for the regulation and inclosure of a common in the county 

 was a lease entered into for 1,000 years in 1578 at Temple Sowerby, 

 and there was another in 1591 for a lease of Down Moor for 1,000 years 

 between Henry Crackenthorpe of the one part and 28 yeomen of Temple 

 Sowerby of the other part (see appendix). 



The various Acts followed fairly general lines, and that relating 

 to Shap, 1813, may be taken as typifjdng them prior to the general 

 Inclosure Act of 1836. The commons affected under it extended to 



