The enclosure of open fields, by Act of Parliament or otherwise, created much of the present-day landscape of the county and had major economic and social effects.
The online resources listed below are accessible free of charge (apart from one very recently published book).
These articles and theses help explain the historical background, how enclosures took place and their consequences:
- Common right and enclosure in eighteenth-century Northamptonshire by J M Neeson [1978]
- Drawing the Lines: A GIS study of enclosure and landscape in Northamptonshire by Tracey Partida [2014]
- Enclosure stories: narratives from Northamptonshire by Briony McDonagh & Stephen Daniels [2012]
- Inclosure Movements in Northamptonshire by W E Tate [1949] (page 19) Overview of the subject from the Middle Ages onwards with extensive references to primary and secondary sources.
- Sheep and Enclosure in Sixteenth-Century Northamptonshire by John Martin [1988]
- The Church of England and the enclosure of England’s Open Fields – a Northamptonshire case study by Matthew Cragoe [2016]
- The Midland Revolt and the Inquisitions of Depopulation of 1607 by Edwin F Gay [1904]
Our own publications include these books on the subject:
- The Enclosure of Northamptonshire 1485-1901 by David Hall & William Franklin [2024]
- The Open Fields of Northamptonshire by David Hall [1995]
- Thomas Cowper Land Surveyor by William Franklin [2019]
The following articles focus on the enclosure of particular places. For each one, you can use the link to reach the relevant issue of the journal where the article itself starts on the page indicated.
- Arthingworth Arthingworth Parliamentary Enclosure 1766 by David Hall [2014] (page 57)
- Ashby St Ledgers Ashby St Ledgers Enclosure of 1764 by David Hall [2015] (page 60)
- Aynho Fields, open and enclosed by David Hall [2006] (page 7))
- Brackley Enclosure and Farm Holding in Brackley 1829-51 by J R Lowerson [1978] (page 33)
- Finedon Finedon Inclosure 1804-08 by Susan Ranson [1965] (page 285)
- Kettering Kettering Inclosure 1804-5 by R A Martin [1977] (page 413)
- Lilford Enclosure, Agricultural Change and the Remaking of the Local Landscape: The Case of Lilford (Northamptonshire) by Briony McDonagh [2011] (page 45)
- Moreton Pinckney Moreton Pinkney fields and the enclosures of 1601, 1624 and 1761 by David Hall [2016] (page 18)
- Newton New insights into the Newton Riot of 1607 by Robert G Page [2018] (page 17)
- Norton Norton Finally Inclosed; a Reconstruction of the 1756 Inclosure Award by T J Waterfield [1998] (page 45)
- Raunds Inclosure of Open Fields in Northamptonshire by Wimersley Bush [1951] (page 35) Translation of a Latin poem composed in 1823 by Rev James Tyley, then Rector of Great Addington. He described the disadvantages of the open field system, the process of enclosure and associated disturbances at Raunds in 1794-6.
- Roade Enclosure at Roade, Warmington and Whittlebury by John Mulholland [2003] (page 62)
- Thorpe Malsor A 17th-century enclosure dispute in Thorpe Malsor by Bill Franklin [2016] (page 7)
- Warmington Enclosure at Roade, Warmington and Whittlebury by John Mulholland [2003] (page 62)
- West Haddon An Eighteenth Century Inclosure and Football Play at West Haddon by J W Anscombe [1968] (page 175)
- Whittlebury Enclosure at Roade, Warmington and Whittlebury by John Mulholland [2003] (page 62)
These articles address other topics relevant to enclosure.
- Agricultural Improvement in Post-inclosure Northamptonshire, 1700-1850: Problems of Interpretation by Steven Hollowell [2002] (page 36)
- Enclosure in Northamptonshire by David Hall [1997] (page 351)
- Inclosure Movements in Northamptonshire by W E Tate [1949] (page 19)
- Inclosure of Open Fields in Northamptonshire by James Tyley (translated by Dorothy Halton) [1951] (page 35)
- Making your own Enclosure Map by Mike Rumbold [1997] (page 369)
- Northamptonshire Inclosure: The Commissioners and Other Officials by Steven Hollowell [1999] (page 41)
- On the verge of Civil War: The Swing Riots 1830-1832 by Sylvia Thompson [2011] (page 68)
- Parliamentary Enclosure in Northamptonshire: Process and Procedures by J W Anscombe [1988] (page 409)
- Rev. Henry Jephcott, Enclosure Commissioner by Bill Franklin [2017] (page 56)
- The Context of The Open Fields of England by David Hall [2014]