Question

What did the enclosure imply? Why was the land enclosed in the $18th$ century in England?

Answer 1

(i) The land enclosure in England implied a big piece of land which was enclosed from all sides and there were hedges built around it to separate it from the lands of others.
(ii) The land was enclosed to increase grain production for the rising English population which multiplied over four times between $1750$ and $1900$ mounting to $7$ million in $1750$ to $21$ million in $1850$ and $30$ million in $1900$. This increased in demand for foodgrains to feed the population.
(iii) Due to industrialisation in Britian urban population grew. Men from rural areas migrated to towns in search of jobs. To survive they had to buy foodgrains in the market which expanded and eventually the foodgrain prices rose high.
(iv) By the end of the eighteenth century, France was at war with England. This disrupted trade and import of food grains from Europe. Prices of food grains increased encouraging landowners to enclose lands. Enclosures were also important for long-term investments on land and to plan crop rotations for maintaining soil fertility. Thus the Parliament passed the Enclosure Acts.