Pre-18th century enclosure

Irregular enclosure

This category of enclosure is applied where fields appear to have been established by agreement with other landholders on a piecemeal, field-by-field basis. This classification can vary considerably in shape and size and can sometimes be confused with woodland assarts or woodland intakes that generally have a similar appearance. Early irregular enclosure is found throughout the county, although concentrations can be seen in the wooded areas of the Chilterns, Bernwood and Whittlewood Forest. This category represents the most extensive type of enclosure, this is mainly due to the heading acting as a catch-all for enclosures of irregular pattern that appear on the earliest dated map source. 

Some irregular enclosures, particularly those in the Chilterns, are probably of medieval origin but where they overlie medieval ridge and furrow (as many do north of the Chiltern scarp) then they were probably mostly created between the 14th and 17th centuries either by enforced clearance of the open fields or by agreement.

This type of field is typically associated with ridge and furrow and deserted medieval settlements/moats in north Buckinghamshire. Early enclosures can be associated with Tudor mansions as at Quarrendon and Salden.   

Regular enclosure

Regular enclosed land is defined as having regular field patterns with medieval or post-medieval origins presumably deriving from planned but often unrecorded episodes of enclosure. Within the Vale of Aylesbury and Milton Keynes many areas of pre 18th century regular enclosure have the remnants of medieval strip fields, which both respect and ignore the layout of the open field furlongs. 

These are landscapes laid out prior to the 18th century probably broadly contemporaneous with pre-18th century irregular enclosure. An example of these enclosures can be found at Middle Claydon which was enclosed by a private agreement by the Verney family in the 17th century.

Again, this type is typically associated with ridge and furrow and deserted medieval settlements/moats in north Bucks.