... for ways of easing the pressures of the struggle to survive. Land enclosure had been taking place for centuries, and only now was it showing signs of it having had any real effect. The enclosures had allowed land to be reclaimed from pasture (and had taken away the rights to land from the peasants) so that it would eventually be in shape for production. Land Enclosure Enclosures were the primary stages in rural development that resulted in the confiscation of what had usually been common land so as to prepare it for eventual farming. Enclosures slowly transformed English agriculture from the antiquated system of open fields farmed by the peasants, into a system of state run operations. Enclosures were created for different reasons at different times, although mainly for profit, and the response to the development depended on whether it was affecting valuable arable land or common wastes. The 'Open Field Enclosure ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now