The whole of Gloucester, with the exception of the Forest of Dean and its neighbourhood in the west, has scattered over it parishes enclosed by Acts of Parliament; and the enclosure so effected amounted to nearly a quarter (22·5 per cent.) of the whole area of the county. The rich land in the Severn Valley was the latest enclosed district. William Marshall tells us that in 1789 “perhaps half the vale is undivided property.” (“Rural Economy of Gloucestershire,” Vol. I., p. 16.) As enclosure by Act of Parliament, and doubtless also without Acts, had been proceeding vigorously since 1726, it is probable that at the earlier date nearly the whole was in “a state of commonage.” Of the Cotswold Hills, Marshall says: “Thirty years ago (_i.e._, in 1759) this district lay almost entirely in an open state, namely, in arable common fields, sheep-walk, and cow-down. At present it may be said to be in a state of Inclosure, though some few townships yet remain open.” (_Ibid._, Vol. II., p. 9.) I have already pointed out that in Gloucestershire enclosure without Acts was specially easy, in consequence of the custom of holding land. The ancient custom of “copyhold by three lives renewable” had very generally been converted into “leasehold by three lives renewable,” the difference being that the lord of the manor’s option of accepting a new life became real instead of nominal. It was easy for a landlord who wished to enclose to convert each such lease as it fell in to one for a short period of years; and it was in this way, Marshall says, the enclosure of the Cotswold Hills was mainly effected. The south-west of Gloucestershire, towards Somerset, to a considerable extent shared in the early enclosure of that county; though for Somerset we have also to say that while the western half was, like Devonshire, very early enclosed, the eastern half to a certain extent shared in the comparatively late enclosure Gloucestershire and the north-west of Wiltshire, as the map shows.