Leland gives no account of the condition of the county with regard to enclosure; but as no earlier author than Blyth speaks of Hertford as an enclosed county, I am inclined to believe that its enclosure mainly took place in the sixteenth and in the first half of the seventeenth century. It is to be noticed that Hertford was excluded from the operation of the last (39 Elizabeth, c. 2) of the Depopulation Acts, requiring that all old arable land should continue under tillage and be cultivated according to the local custom. BUCKINGHAM. Buckingham is, on the whole, a county of late enclosure. A large proportion (34·2 per cent.) of the area was enclosed by Acts of Parliament; two-thirds of this enclosure belonging to the eighteenth and one-third to the nineteenth century. The reporters to the Board of Agriculture, William James and Jacob Malcolm, supply a list of the parishes containing common fields in 1794, with an approximate statement of the area. The majority of these parishes have, of course, undergone Parliamentary enclosure since. By comparing their list with that of the Enclosure Acts and with the summary of the tithe documents, we find that the following seventeen parishes were enclosed without Acts between 1794 and the date of tithe commutation:-- Astwood Buckland Dinton Drayton Beauchamp Halton Great Hampden Little Hampden Hedgerley Horsendon Great Horwood Ickford Marsh Gibbon Medmenham Great Missenden Little Missenden Newton Longueville Quainton The following five still had remains of common field at the time of tithe commutation, though the area was considerably reduced in each case:-- ┌────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐ │ │ Common Field Acreage. │ │ ---- ├──────────────┬──────────────┤ │ │ In 1794. │ According to │ │ │ │ Tithe Map. │ ├────────────────────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┤ │ │ Acres. │ Acres. │ │ Burnham and Lower Boveney │ 1000 │ 525 │ │ Chesham │ 300 │ 66 │ │ Dorney │ 600 │ 277 │ │ Eton │ 300 │ 181 │ │ Chipping Wycombe │ 200 │ 100 │ └────────────────────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┘ As so much gradual non-Parliamentary enclosure took place during the nineteenth century, it is to be supposed that the same process was also going on right through the eighteenth century.