Enclosure Acts

The Enclosure Acts were a series of laws in England during the 18th and 19th centuries that allowed common land and village fields to be consolidated and privately owned. This process often involved fencing off shared lands, transforming them from open, communal use into private property called enclosures. Enclosure aimed to improve farming efficiency and productivity but often displaced small farmers and commoners, leading to social and economic shifts. Overall, these acts significantly reshaped rural landscapes and agricultural practices, fueling the Industrial Revolution but also causing social upheaval.