HISTORY OF CHAPEL COTTAGE, STUTTON, YORKSHIRE 1798 - 1799

Stutton Enclosure

Chapel Cottage, Stutton

The first map reference to the cottage is shown on the enclosure map for Stutton dated 1798. The enclosure movement was the cause of one of the greatest changes in the landscape of rural England. It was the process whereby the system of open shared fields and pastures, meadows and wastes (uncultivated land) was gradually replaced by a system of private land ownership. It involved both a legal and a physical change.

The shared element was abolished and individual landowners and tenants took over separate private control of defined areas of land. The community no longer had rights over most of the land and the poorer members of village society were frequently disadvantaged in consequence. Physically, the great open fields, unfenced and unhedged meadows and pastures, and the expanses of fen, moor, common and heath were divided up into hedged, fenced or walled fields. The land was enclosed, instead of open.

Records of the enclosure included a detailed map of the area, usually the first available of a district. This shows owners of existing freehold and copyhold land (held from the lord of the Manor under 'copy' of court roll) as well as the common land which would be enclosed. An enclosure award was also prepared listing the names of the new owners.

Stutton Enclosure Map 1798

Stutton Enclosure Award 1798 - Cottage Marked Red



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