I 



ENCLOSURE 75 



was followed by his successor Thomas the Second, who during 

 his ownership of the estate from 1281 to 1320, to the great 

 profit of his tenants and himself, encouraged them to make 

 exchanges, so as to make their lands lie in convenient parcels 

 instead of scattered strips, by which he raised the rent of an 

 acre from ^d. and 6d. to li-. 6d} There is a deed of enclosure 

 made in the year 1250, preserved, by which the free men of 

 North Dichton ' appropriated and divided between them and 

 so kept for ever in fee all that place called Sywyneland, 

 with the moor,' and they were to have licence to appropriate 

 that place, which was common pasture (the boundaries of 

 which are given), * save, however, to the grantor William de Ros 

 and his heirs ' common of pasture in a portion thereof named 

 by bounds, with entry and exit for beasts after the wheat is 

 carried. The men of North Dichton were also to have all the 

 wood called Rouhowthwicke, and to do what they liked with 

 it.^ In return they gave the lord 10 marks of silver and a 

 concession as regards a certain wood. It has been noticed 

 that the Black Death, besides causing many of the landlords 

 to let their demesnes, also made them turn much tillage into 

 grass to save labour, which had grown so dear. We have also 

 seen that the statutes regulating wages were of little effect, and 

 they went on rising, so that more land was laid down to grass. 

 The landowners may be said to have given up ordinary farm- 

 ing and turned to sheep raising. 



English wool could always find a ready sale, although 



Spanish sheep farming had developed greatly ; and the profit- 



'able trade of growing wool attracted the new capitalist class 



'who had sprung up, so that they often invested their recently 



made fortunes in it, buying up many of the great estates that 



were scattered during the war.'"* 



The increase of sheep farming was assisted by the fact that 



^ LtTes of the Berkeley s^ i. 160. 



* Historical MSS. Commission^ 6th Report, p. 359. 



' Cunningham, Industry and Commerce, i. 379, 



