Commons and Commoning

        The land in the parish was divided into a number of areas. Foremost were the arable fields, which amounted to approximately 1500 acres. Another 500 acres were common or waste. This word “waste” has a precise meaning – it is uncultivated land, and at the time they did tend to think it was waste. But in reality it provided the village grazing, and a whole host of other benefits, and was as much used as the arable. Livestock was very necessary at this time because it provided the fertilizer necessary for the arable lands: there were no artificial fertilizers to be bought, as there are now. So livestock were grazed on the Common and moved onto the fallow at the appropriate times. The Common stretched along the side of High Green and Cambridge Road, which was unfenced, and around Nine Wells. Generally this was land that was damp and marshy, and so unsuitable for arable crops. If you look at the Enclosure Map, you will see that drains were put in, as part of the Enclosure, to drain it. The waste was also called moor, not moor as in the high moors of the north of England, but meaning, in this part of the world, damp ground.

If you look at the Enclosure Map you will see that it is a palimpsest. The new layout of enclosed fields is superimposed on the old pre-enclosure areas and names. We can see that different parts of the Moor went under different names. There was Crow Land, which ran along the eastern side of Cambridge Road, and following on from it, Cabbage Moor. On higher ground, to the East, the Sheep Common. The Crow Land and Cabbage Moor would have been damp and low-lying. Sheep don't tolerate wet underfoot, so were grazed on the higher, chalky ground. Running along the border with Trumpington were Bailies and Back Moor.

There was one more area - the Rod Meadow. This sat between the three West Fields. I believe this was also considered part of the Waste. Its name suggests that it was used for growing willow. It was a sump, into which water drained and at Enclosure drains were made here to make it fit for arable. It is now part of Rectory Farm.

Nearer to the centre of the village was The Green. This was the name normally given to that part of the waste or common in the central part of the village. The Green occupied a narrow strip along Cambridge Road and the modern High Green, starting where the entrance to Trinity Lane now is and running as far as the Plough. Strung round the edge of it were houses. On the other side of the road, the Green occupied both sides of Granhams Road, extending roughly as far as the house Granhams. The houses which today line this eastern side of High Green were all built after the Enclosure. The old building line was much further back, and these new houses were built on the Green.

The Green was an area of rough grassland, extending outwards on either side of the road. There were ponds, grazing livestock, chickens and geese on it. 

The Green and the Common were lands held in common (the clue's in the name!). The land - the Waste - belonged to the Lord of the Manor, although, given that there were three manors in Great Shelford, it's not entirely clear which Lord that would be. Though the land might be the Lord's, he couldn't do what he wanted with it because it was subject to common rights. Common rights were attached to properties - "ancient" houses. New builds didn't acquire those rights. The rights were those of common of pasture, and this allowed the commoners to graze cattle or sheep.

There were too numerous other common rights in the village. Commoners had the right to graze livestock on the open fields after harvest. There were other rights still, which didn't require the qualification of occupying a house with common rights. These were called "use rights", not formalized, but sanctified by use and accepted in the common law. One such was the right to glean leftover corn from the open arable (you can read more about gleaning in Gleaning - the Economics of Poverty ). There were also rights to take sand, gravel, clay and clunch (chalk), all materials which were necessary for building. In those days the parish was not primarily a money-economy. Now, if we want gravel, we go and buy it from a builders’ yard. In those days, they would go and dig it for themselves. There were yet other rights, notably to collect fuel, or to go out and forage for wild food, such as blackberries or nuts. I don’t know that there was much wood to forage in Great Shelford – if you look at the Enclosure map there seems to be very little woodland in the village. It was as optimized as it is now for the growing of grain. Such wood as could be found would have been “small wood”, small branches from hedges or trees, not big logs. Large trees were sacrosanct and you could get into serious trouble for chopping them down (yet another of the many offences for which you could be sentenced to hard labour, if not worse), so I think that wood was like gold dust.  But households had no central heating, and no gas or electric cookers. If you wanted heat, or hot food, or a cup of tea, then you needed an open fire. I was fascinated to find that cow and horse manure were collected for fuel, rather than used for fertilizer. I think this is a barometer of the wood shortage in the village. However, the Poor had planted some trees on the Common - perhaps as fuel? - and at Enclosure they were keen to reach an agreement thereon.

Apart from the Waste, there were common meadows running alongside the river. These were water meadows, prone at times to flooding. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The floods brought silt and thus increased fertility. And winter floods could make the soil that bit warmer, so that in spring, when the floods receded, there was an earlier crop of grass. The fields were called Homeward, Hopham (or Hoppin) and Hollick Meadow. As with the arable, so the meadows were divided into strips which were distributed among the commoners. They were hay meadows, and only grazed after the hay had been cut.

The system of commoning had rules. These rules were laid down at Buristead Manorial Court which met annually.

1805

First That no asses, mares, nor stoned horses shall be kept on the commons of this Parish at any time, under pain of being impounded and the owner pay to the Lords of this Manor one shilling for each and every offence.

Stoned horse - a gelding or castrated male.

2nd.  No hogs unrung shall go on the Commons of this Parish after being eight weeks old on pain of being impounded and to pay two pence each.

The ring was put on the hog's nose to stop it digging - unrung hogs are a bit like JCBs - they can inflict serious damage on the ground surface!

3rd.   No horses to go on the balks of this Parish common balks nor cart balks until the corn is cut on both sides, on pain of being impounded and to pay one shilling each.

4th. No sheep shall be kept on the Cow Commons of this Parish on pain of being impounded and paying one shilling per score for first Offence and for every after Offence three shillings and four pence per score from Christmas to Lady Day .

5th. No sheep to go into any Stubblefield before the cows have been in the said field seven days on pain of being impounded and to pay as in last two Articles.

6th. No sheep to be kept in any Lanes or bye ways in this Parish on pain of being impounded and to pay one shilling for every Offence.

7th. No horses to go on the Commons later than Ten Clock at night unless properly staked on pain of being impounded and pay two pence each and not to be released from the staking before four o'clock in the morning on paying two pence each and if strayed into the Corn one shilling each.

8th. No horses nor cows shall be led on the Balks nor Commons (lanes excepted) before Old May Day on pain of being impounded and to pay two pence each and no more than two cows to be led by one person in a band under same Penalty.

9th. No horses nor cows shall be led on the Balks longer than fourteen days from Old May Day on pain of being impounded and to pay two pence each.

10th. No cows or cowkine to go into the Stubble fields before that field is clear of Corn on pain of being impounded and to pay one shilling each.

11th. No cows or cowkine to go on the Common later than Ten clock at night on pain of being impounded and to pay two pence each and if strayed into the Corn one shilling each.

12th. No hogs shall go on the Common further than Townsend Pound on one side the partition ditch and Granhams Corner the other side of the brook on pain of being impounded and to pay two pence each.

13th. No cows nor two year old bullocks to go on any Common without having Nobs on their horns on pain of being impounded and to pay two pence each.

14th. No hogs shall go into the Stray in any of the open Fields before Harvest is quite done and on pain of being impounded and to pay two pence each for every Offence.

Stray - corn stalks - this probably means no access to the fields when part-harvested.

15th. Turkeys under the same restrictions as hogs in the Stray paying one half penny each for every Offence.

16th. No Person nor Persons shall take off from any Common any cow or horse dung before the same is quite dry and fit for fuel.

All which articles we present as bye laws for the regulations and benefit of the Commons of this Parish, and as our antient rights and customs. And we do hereby ratify and confirm all former orders made at any Court or Courts holden for the said Manor and all other customs and regulations used and observed in the said Parish which are hereby not revoked.

7 June 1805, Court Book 1804-42, Buristead Manor

The rules were repeated with some minor differences in 1808, suggesting that their observance needed reinforcing.