But in this calculation I have treated the 21,900 acres of woodland as though it were part of the enclosed parishes. If it be considered to belong indifferently to open and enclosed parishes, the above calculation must be modified. We then have ninety-four parishes open in 1793, and twenty-seven enclosed; fourteen out of the ninety-four would be enclosed without Parliamentary sanction between 1793 and 1845, leaving only ten parishes so enclosed at some unknown date earlier than 1793. By dealing with the Bedfordshire estimate on the basis of acreage instead of parishes, I arrive at the following statement of the history of the enclosure of Bedford:-- Acres. Ancient woodland and waste, which passed directly into individual use, and ancient roads, &c. 43,000 Common fields, meadows and pastures enclosed before 1742 33,000 Ditto enclosed from 1742–1793 by Acts of Parliament 23,883 Ditto ″ ″ ″ ″ not by Acts 26,000 Ditto ″ ″ 1793–1900 by Acts 114,430 Ditto ″ ″ ″ ″ not by Acts 58,000 ─────── Total 298,313 ═══════ Arthur Young, in June, 1768, travelled through Bedfordshire to St. Neots, and then close to the boundary between Bedford and Huntingdon to Kimbolton and Thrapston in Northamptonshire. He found from Sandy to St. Neots the country chiefly open, and that it continued so to Kimbolton and Thrapston; though with regard to the two latter places he mentions enclosed pastures (“Northern Tour,” 2nd Ed., Vol. I., pp. 55–59). This, so far as it goes, tends to confirm our conclusions. I am anxious not to lay any undue stress on the above arithmetical calculations; but I think it is quite clear that up to the year 1742 the condition of the county of Bedford was that indicated by Leland’s description.