Agricultural History Review, Volume 43 Part 1 (1995), pp. 35–46

Writings on enclosure after 1700 often concentrate largely on the parliamentary movement, and any discussion of non-parliamentary aspects tends to ignore the distinction between the different processes involved. Amounts and types of land are rarely specified with any precision. An extensive survey of Hampshire casts some light on the progress of enclosure by formal agreement, one specific type of nonparliamentary enclosure. It is shown that this type of enclosure occurred more frequently and covered more land than previously thought, forming a testing ground for techniques employed by parliamentary act. Estimates are given, from the statistics collected, for the acreage involved, and the types of land are shown. The temporal and spatial distribution of formal agreement enclosure is analysed, and a comparison with the extent of parliamentary enclosure is made. Finally, the importance of piecemeal enclosure in Hampshire is highlighted. 

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