As elsewhere across the Midlands, the landscape of Tysoe prior to the late 18th century largely comprised common land and open fields, the latter subdivided into a veritable patchwork of narrow strips each individually farmed in accordance with decisions made annually by the manorial court or Court Leet, a body of interested landowners including the Lord of the Manor.
Towards the end of the 18th century, the principal landowners in Tysoe parish were motivated to improve the productivity, and hence the rent of their fragmented land holdings, by consolidating them into compact enclosed fields over which they could exercise complete control, allowing the more efficient use of the land and improved stock breeding, especially for sheep. Their position in society and the circles in which they moved gave them the influence to secure an Act of Parliament authorizing the enclosure of the open fields and commons and the Tysoe Inclosure Act was passed in 1796.
By contrast, the rank and file in the parish subsisted by selling their labour in the open fields, whilst sometimes having the right to graze a few cows or sheep on the common land. The commons were effectively areas of shared-use rights rather than intermixed properties.
A third complication arose from the fact that much of the property in the parish carried with it an obligation to pay tithes to either the Vicar, the Lord of the Manor or one of the other principal landowners who might be entitled to receive them. The origin of the rights of common and the obligation to pay tithes was usually not set down in writing and but had been handed down through generations. This made it very difficult to substantiate the existence of a right when the need arose as we shall see.
There follows a link to the first phase of this study (parts 2 and 3 will follow in due course); click on the heading to navigate to the next page:
Part 1 The Tysoe Enclosure Act 1796
In Part 1 of this study, we explore the content and effect of the Tysoe Inclosure Act of 1796 and conclude that although some of the anticipated benefits of enclosure in terms of agricultural productivity certainly accrued, albeit difficult to quantify, the principal landowners were the main beneficiaries and the minor proprietors or yeomen, the poor and landless of the parish were disadvantaged.
In Part 2 (still work in progress) we will examine the Minute Book of the Commissioners who were appointed by Parliament to implement the Act. The enclosure of the fields and commons, the allocation of enclosed land in lieu of the rights of common, and the granting of land in lieu of an obligation to pay tithes was an exceedingly complicated exercise and the Minute Book is full of detail about the way the Commissioners carried out their duties and how the significant expenses of the enclosure were met.
In Part 3 (still work in progress) we arrive at the fruits of their labour in the form of the Inclosure Award and Map, which together set out and describe in detail which proprietors received the newly-identified parcels of land; how the landscape was physically changed by the stringent requirements to plant hedges; and how the roads, bridleways and footpaths that we still use were established.
GS August 2026