[Ge]
The process whereby open land or common land was parcelled up into privately owned blocks or fields. In Britain this started in the 16th century ad, gathering pace during the 17th and 18th centuries, and is known as the Enclosure Movement. This mainly meant re-allocating the rights that people had to cultivation plots and common grazing so that compact farms were created. From the early 18th century this required a private Act of Parliament.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.