CBSE Class 9 Answered
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the British countryside underwent a change dramatically. Prior to the eighteenth century, England had many open fields and common lands. These open fields belonged to the villages and were not held privately by the landlords. All villagers had access to these lands. Peasants could collect fruits, berries, hunt and collect fishes from rivers and lakes which were located in the vicinity of the common lands. This helped them to earn additional income during the time of bad harvests.
However, from sixteenth century onwards, as the prices of wool began to increase, many landlords began to enclose their lands. This was done to improve the breeding of their sheep. The process of land enclosure was slow during this time. By late eighteenth century, the enclosure movement began to grow rapidly and several laws were passed by the Parliament to legalise the enclosure of lands. This was done to bring more land under cultivation.
Thus, while the British countryside presented the scene of many open fields prior to the eighteenth century, lands in the late eighteenth century began to be enclosed leading to the expansion of cultivation.