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The Enclosure of Barrowby in 1762 Enclosure in England In England the enclosure of open fields commenced in the twelfth century but did not gain pace until 1450–1640. At this stage the intention was usually to increase the amount of permanent pasture. From 1604 onwards enclosure by Act of Parliament was introduced, although less-formal agreements continued too. By the 1750s the Parliamentary system had become the most common method. Barrowby's turn came in 1762. During the seventeenth century the aims shifted from increasing grazing to increasing arable. In particular to overcome the problem of arable fields becoming infertile. Artificial fertlisers, although invented in 1842 and 're-invented' in 1903, have only been used extensively from the late 1940s. Prior to that the supply of natural fertilisers rarely proved sufficient. Open fields could easily become exhausted, especially if rotations were imposed in an inflexible fashion. There is an example of a field becoming infertile recorded for Barrowby as, in 1697, land in Cawklands (sorry, seemingly no record of where this was) was found to be so 'sour' from over-ploughing that it was to be rested under grass. To compensate one-third of Barrowby Moor was enclosed each year to make up the deficit of arable land. 'This was probably not intended to be a permanent arrangement, but was the sort of informal agreement which ultimately led to the abandonment of communal rights and controls' (Kain et al 2004 p4–5) The change from several open fields to multiple smaller 'closes' benefited the bigger farmers. But deprived the poorer residents of the village of long-standing rights to graze cattle on the fallow field. Whatever the details this would have been the most radical change to the farming practices in the parish for about a thousand years. While some of the Enclosure hedges were removed in the 1960s to 1990s the current arrangement of fields in Barrowby parish owes more to events in 1762 than anything that went before. So far as I am aware there has been no detailed work on the Enclosure Award for Barrowby. John Smith and John Manterfield list the relevant documents in Lincolnshire Archives (Smith and Manterfield 1973 p31–2) but – understandably as the scope of their report extends only to about 1500 – do not provide a summary. L.R. Cryer omits any reference to the Enclosure of Barrowby (Cryer 1979). If you are able to provide any additional information about the Enclosure of Barrowby parish (or are interested in doing some research) then please email me:– bobtrubs@indigogroup.co.uk. The Green a.k.a. Stevens Gutter To compensate – at least in a small way – for the loss of grazing rights communal 'greens' were created. There is now a village green at the intersection of Casthorpe Road, Main Street and Low Road. The road sign conveniently gives the by-name of 'Stevens Gutter'. My initial guess is that this is a communal green created as part of the Enclosure Award of 1762, although this needs confirmation. Before 1940 there was a retaining wall around it about four feet high enabling cattle to be grazed there (Cryer 1979 p71). The cattle were owned by the butchers – still in business as Skinners but named by Cryer as Griffin (with the inference that Griffin was the butcher around 1940 when the wall was demolished). I assume (but have no evidence) that the wall was removed to allow the land to be used for additional allotments during the Second World War. The location would be convenient to most people in the village at the time. If it had remained as common land then it could readily be 'repurposed'. Presumbaly it was 'reinstated' as a playing field some time after the rationing of foodstuffs ended in July 1954. When green doesn't mean green Just for those who don't already know, when used in phases such as 'village green' and 'green lane' the the word 'green' has nothing to do with colour! Since the late fifteenth century in these contexts 'green' has the specific sense of 'grassland belonging to the community'. To use a different phrase it was 'common grazing' – grazing available (subject to all sorts of constraints to avoid over-grazing) to the 'commoners' of a village i.e. residents who held grazing rights 'in common' (i.e. shared). More about the origin of the name Stevens Gutter. If you think I've got something wrong – or can add additional information or photographs – then please email me:– bobtrubs@indigogroup.co.uk. Back to top of this page   This website does not gather or store any visitor information. Copyright Bob Trubshaw 2021–2022 No unauthorised copying or reproduction except if all following conditions apply: a: Copy is complete (including this copyright statement). b: No changes are made. c: No charge is made. www.hoap.co.uk/barrowby

what's new? Articles about Barrowby Barrowby's location and geology summary of prehistoric Barrowby summary of Roman Barrowby Anglo-Saxons summary of Anglo-Saxon Barrowby place-names Winnibriggs and Threo Domesday Book eleventh century water mills Kesteven moot site Medieval summary of medieval Barrowby origins of All Saints church moated sites the decline of Casthorpe Newbo Abbey Barrowby's Rectory the Conduit to Grantham Sewstern Lane or The Drift Seventeenth and eighteenth centuries summary of early modern Barrowby Dr Thomas Hurst Sir John Thorold John Manners, the Marquess of Granby Charnwood slates the toll bar Enclosure of Barrowby 1762 village green a.k.a. Stevens Gutter Grantham Canal Nineteenth century summary of nineteenth century Barrowby restoration of the parish church schools Methodist chapels Reading Room windmills pinfold Richard Hornsby nineteenth and twentieth century population Twentieth century summary of twentieth century Barrowby ironstone quarrying two World Wars Memorial Hall Barrowby's Listed buildings Barrowby's modern housing guided walks in and around Barrowby there's more could be said... bibliography index of surnames in Cryer 1979 Articles and web links for nearby places rare seventeenth fonts at Muston, Bottesford and Orston from Project Gargoyle Newsletter 2020 Ironstone quarries of Leicestershire YouTube video Wyville's wells Harston's Anglo-Saxon carvings Bottesford's effigies Grantham Canal Society The Grantham Canal All you need to know – and more – from Wikipedia Croxton Kerrial manor house excavations photos and brief details from Leicester Mercury. By 2021 the remains had been consolidated and there are annual open days. Grantham Archaeology Group Bottesford History Group Grantham Civic Society Grantham Museum Heritage Lincolnshire