Putting Up Fences.

The article traces the history of enclosure in Great Britain wherein swathes of countryside were enclosed with fences for exclusive use of landowners. Topics include the beginning of enclosure during the Norman Conquest of England and its formalization by Acts of Parliaments, the impact of the process on access to land which was once a common right, the resurgence of the spirit of enclosure during the Covid-19 pandemic and an English folk song revealing loss and anger toward enclosure.