Steventon and the Berkshire Downs.
That part of Berkshire which lies between the valley of the Kennet and the Thames would appear, from the return of 1873, to be specially rich in surviving open fields. The Blue Book assigns to
| Brightwell | 1000 | acres of | common field. |
| West Hagbourne | 550 | ″ | ″ |
| East Hendred | 2794 | ″ | ″ |
| West Hendred | 1900 | ″ | ″ |
| East Ilsley | 1400 | ″ | ″ |
| Wallingford St. Leonard | 570 | ″ | ″ |
| Yattenden | 252 | ″ | ″ |
As Brightwell was enclosed in 1811, and East Hendred in 1801, the statement with regard to these two parishes plainly is incredible; but in view of the undeniable fact that Steventon, which lies almost in the centre of this district, was not enclosed till 1883, there seemed so much possibility of survivals in the other parishes that in July, 1904, I traversed the whole district in search of such survivals. But the search was entirely unsuccessful; it was plain that Steventon was at the time of its enclosure the last remaining example of the old system in this part.
Here, as in the Hertfordshire district described [above], and in the Wiltshire district dealt with in [Chapter X., “Enclosure and Depopulation,”] enclosure is one aspect of a change of which the most vital aspects are the engrossing of farms and the consolidation of properties. In each parish this movement proceeds along the line of least resistance; in one parish all impediments in the way of the most profitable management of estates are swept away by the drastic remedy of an Enclosure Act; in others they are removed gradually.
The latter method I was enabled, by the help of Mr. Bridges, to trace in detail in the case of Yattenden. The Board of Agriculture return, as we have seen, assigns 252 acres of common field to Yattenden. The tithe map, dated 1845, on which this is based, shows in one corner of “Yattenden Great Field” about 20 acres of intermixed ownership and occupation, forming part of one “furlong,” remaining in the characteristic common-field arrangement; the rest of the so-called “Yattenden Great Field” and “Everington Field” were in part divided into hedged fields, and in part into compact stretches of about 20 acres each, still unhedged, with here and there single acres detached in the midst of them; many of these single acres being glebe.
An older manorial map, dated 1773, showed that at that date nearly half the parish was open; the eastern part was already divided into closes, except for a small stretch of lammas meadow, divided into small intermixed holdings, by the river Pang; but the western part, Yattenden and Everington fields, were almost entirely open, and divided in furlongs, and the furlongs in acre and half-acre strips. These strips on the map are all marked with the letters of the alphabet, to indicate whether they are held by the lord of the manor, by his tenants, or by other owners.
In other words, the process of gradual enclosure, which began before 1773, was continued afterwards, and was nearly complete in 1845. The end came about the year 1858, when Frilsham Common, in an adjoining parish, was enclosed. About half of the intermixed strips in Yattenden Great Field belonged to a yeoman, who was, his brother told me, “a great man for defining his boundaries.” The enclosure of Frilsham Common gave the slight stimulus to the mind of Yattenden necessary to overcome its mental inertia, and make change possible, so the yeoman in question was able to effect the exchanges he desired, and others following his example, the lay properties were all separated. But still the glebe consists in part of an acre here and an acre there in the midst of lands belonging to laymen. These are let with the lands in which they lie; they have no mark to distinguish them, nor boundaries to limit them; the tithe map and award preserve the record of them, and the vicar receives their rent.
This circumstance of the glebe lying in part in separate unfenced strips scattered over the parish, let with the lands in which they lie, and so not influencing the agriculture of the parish, though testifying to the past system, is by no means uncommon in the parishes not enclosed by Act of Parliament.[15]
- [15] Mr. A. N. Palmer, in “Ancient Tenures of Land in the Marches of North Wales,” gives a list of parishes in one Hundred containing, or known to have contained, “quilleted fields,” i.e. fields containing strips of land belonging to a different owner from the rest of the field, these strips being usually glebe.