Hi Can anyone clear up for me the distinction between a 'common arable field' and 'an open arable field'? Were both divided into strips? It's in connection with 17th and 18th century enclosure. Many thanks Kind regards Leigh Driver

Good HOT Afternoon - The 'meat' of our food production in years past is quite evolutionary and Terrick VH Fitzhugh has set out an admirable description covering almost two A5 pages in his book "The Dictionary of Genealogy". I have attempted to precise this and trust it works! >>>>>>>>> "Enclosures" [Physical Process] or "Inclosures" [Legal Process] in the Middle ages were the typical method of agriculture, now called "The Open Field System". Householders in the manor held strips of land scattered among larger open fields, hold hay-making and grazing rights in the meadowland and pasture in proportion to the number of strips they held in the arable. The fields are called "OPEN" because there were no hedges or fences between the various strips. It time it became more efficient for a man to hold one substantial block of land, rather than scattered strips. The lord of the manor tended to withdraw his strips into one group and to take in land from the waste, becoming part of his demesne. This affected mainly pasture land for various reasons but arable duly became affected in the same way. The "Domesday of Inclosure" was drawn up in 1517-18 which only applied to six or seven counties - [Not Stated] - the years that followed brought many suits in chancery or other courts of equity, the resulting decisions being recorded in the Rolls of the Court. Having I think answered the 'open' question, I cannot see a straight answer to "Common Arable Field" unless the document concerned was referencing the Common Pleas rolls that in the 16-17-18th centuries enrolled these enclosures also. Another thought is the sharing of land in the same respect as "Common Land" for grazing which I have heard of but know no details! Kind Regards Roy & June Cox www.btinternet.com/~roy.cox/index.htm -----Original Message----- From: YeagerLA@aol.com [mailto:YeagerLA@aol.com] Sent: 04 August 2004 01:43 To: OLD-ENGLISH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [OEL] Common vs Open Hi Can anyone clear up for me the distinction between a 'common arable field' and 'an open arable field'? Were both divided into strips? It's in connection with 17th and 18th century enclosure. Many thanks Kind regards Leigh Driver ==== OLD-ENGLISH Mailing List ==== OLD-ENGLISH Web Page http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~oel/