Monks Risborough - Enclosure of The Parish

Enclosure of The Parish

Monks Risborough resisted the pressure to enclose the common lands and open fields and to do away with rights of common until a later date than most places, but a local Act of Parliament was eventually obtained in 1830 (11 Geo IV) entitled 'An Act for inclosing lands in the Parish of Monks Risborough in the County of Buckingham'. The Royal Assent was granted on 29 May 1830 and the first meeting of the three Commissioners appointed to investigate the matter and make the Award was held in the Cross Keys Inn at Princes Risborough on 17 June 1830. There seems to have been opposition, because the Award was not completed until 23 September 1839. It is said that meetings to oppose the enclosure were held in the Three Crowns Inn at Askett. Eventually the opposition was overcome and all the former common lands were allotted to individual parishioners. The full details, with a large scale map of the parish as it then was, are set out in the Award.

A number of fields were allotted to the Rector in lieu of tithe, which then ceased to be payable (except in respect of woodlands). Other fields were allotted for the benefit of the poor, who lost their rights over the common lands such as the right to gather wood in certain woodlands. Originally the rents of these fields were used to buy coal. The fields are now vested in the Trustees of Monks Risborough Parochial Charities and they have a wider discretion as to the charitable purposes for which the income can be applied. All the woodlands in the parish were allotted to the Lord of the Manor, the Earl of Buckinghamshire.

A field in a district then called Rumborough was allotted to be used for recreation; this is now the Monks Risborough cricket pitch.

The Award also designated land for footpaths and roads, following the existing tracks as shown on the plans. Most footpaths were to be 8 feet (2.4 m) wide and most roads 30 feet (9.1 m) wide. These did not include the Aylesbury Road which was already a public highway and always referred to in the Award as 'the Turnpike Road'. Special provision was made about Whiteleaf Cross as mentioned below in the section on the cross.