The first steps towards the enclosure of these three parishes were made immediately after the passing of the 1876 Act; the Enclosure Act was passed in 1878, and the awards were made in 1881 and 1882. Out of 5480 acres in the three parishes, 4800 were common-field arable, a heath claimed by both Barrowden and South Luffenham occupied 390 acres, and much of the remainder was commonable meadow and pasture. Two systems of cultivation obtained. Part of the land being heavy clay was on a three years’ course of wheat, beans, etc., and fallow, as at Laxton and Eakring; the lighter land was under a six years’ course. The report of the Enclosure Commissioners says of Barrowden that the 1240 acres of arable land “is divided in 2790 strips, some not more than 12 feet wide, each divided from its neighbour by a green balk, which is a nursery of weeds.” Old farmers, however, assured me that the balks were mostly gone before enclosure. Field reeves were elected, and they settled any dispute that arose in consequence of the absence of balks, and individual farmers quickly detected, by pacing across their strips, if a furrow had been appropriated by a neighbour. Here, again, I asked whether the enclosure had been a benefit, and I was told that the labourers had benefited by the allotments and recreation grounds; that the lord of the manor of South Luffenham had benefited, because he got the disputed moor, but that farmers, as farmers, had gained nothing, and as common-right owners they had lost through the enclosure of the moor. Enclosure in this case originated in what may be called the normal way, _i.e._, on the initiative of the lords of the manors. It was the doubtful ownership of the Barrowden and Luffenham moor which had until 1876 prevented enclosure; then the respective lords agreed to combine to obtain an enclosure of all three parishes, and let the Commissioners determine to which parish the moor belonged. It was awarded to Luffenham, but the Luffenham freeholders lost it just as much as those of Barrowden; it is now the private property of the lord of the manor. HAM FIELD. A curious case of enclosure by Act of Parliament unconnected with the General Enclosure Acts is that of Ham Field by the “Richmond, Petersham and Ham Open Spaces Act, 1902” (2 Edward VII., c. ccliii.). It is entitled, “An Act to confirm agreements for vesting common and other land in the local authorities of the districts of Richmond and Ham, and the Surrey County Council as public open spaces, and for other purposes.” But while it does incidentally confirm these agreements, the “other purposes” comprise the main object of the bill, which is to allow the owners of Ham Common, of whom the Earl of Dysart is the principal, to enclose Ham Common Field, and convert it into building land.