446 TUE BlUTISU ISLES. 



There still remain in England and Wales about 2,G00,772 acres of common 

 lands, of which 1,150,000 acres are supposed to be capable of cultivation, whilst a 

 great portion of the remainder might be rendered productive by planting it with 

 trees, or as pasturage. The encroachment upon these common lands by the lords of 

 the manors and others forms a dark chapter in the history of the country. Between 

 17G0 and 1845 no less than 5,000,000 acres were enclosed by virtue of private Acts 

 of Parliament, which altogether set aside the interests of the public. In the year 

 1845 the first Act was passed which recognised the rights of the public, and no 

 enclosures are now permitted without a portion of the common dealt with being 

 resei'ved as a recreation ground. About 620,000 acres have been enclosed since 

 1845. But though many of the commons have been enclosed, the old rights of 

 way have been fought for, in most instances with success, and the villages in the 

 agricultural counties have preserved their delightful footpaths, which w^ind in the 

 meadows or along the banks of rivulets fringed with shade-throwing trees.* 



The British Islands form a land of large estates. The landowners who have 

 found a place in the new Domesday Book published in 1876 are more numerous 

 than had been supposed ; for their number throughout the United Kingdom, 

 but exclusive of the metropolis, is no less than l,173,6S3o We must bear in 

 mind, however, that this number includes no less than 852,438 owners of 

 houses or small gardens, whose aggregate estates do not amount to more than 

 852,438 acres, which is far less than the Duke of Sutherland can call his own 

 (1,358,548 acres). Nor must we lose sight of the fact that many owners hold 

 property in more than one county, and are counted twice or more, as the case may 

 be. Deducting these, as well as owners who hold public j^i'operty in trust, as it 

 were, we find that the probable number of private owners holding one acre and 

 upwards is 229,630 in England, 15,865 in Scotland, and 28,715 in Ireland, 

 making altogether 274,210 for the United Kingdom. f Twelve persons hold 

 between them no less than 4,440,500 acres, and over two-thirds of the soil of the 

 British Isles are the property of about 10,000 individuals. Yast estates, whose 

 value is continually increasing, are in the hands of members of the royal family, 

 of the Church, the municipalities, and the two Universities of Oxford and Cam- 

 bridge. J The members of the English aristocracy, taken as a body, are the 

 most powerful landowners in Europe, and their hold upon the land keeps up and 

 consolidates their power in the state. Peers and peeresses hold no less than 

 15,500,000 acres throughout the United Kingdom — that is, each about 29,600 

 acres — yielding an income of £25,000. 



• Hugh lilillcr, " First Impressions of England and the English." 

 t Abstract of the Domesday Book : — 



Landowners Lando-wners T^andownevs 



holding' under holding 1 to Jiolding over Total 



an Acre. 500 Acres. 1,000 Acres. Landowners. 



England and Wales . . . 703,289 259,340 10,207 972,836 



Scotland 113,005 16,542 2,584 132,131 



Ireland 36.144 26,111 6,461 68,716 



United Kingdom . . . 852.4:58 301,993 19,252 1.173.683 



I Increase in the value of landed property between 1857 and 1877 : — In England, 21 per cent. ; in 

 Scotland, 26 per cent. ; in Ireland, 6 per cent. (James Caird, " The Landed Interest.") 



