Open Fields

The old open fields of Great Bowden and Little Bowden were enclosed by acts of Parliament in the late 1770s. At the time of the Enclosure awards plans would have been made by the Parliamentary Commissioners who oversaw the transition. These are an immensely useful source of information for historians. However, the Enclosure plan for Great Bowden has been lost. This project is working towards recreating it from what documentary evidence remains. This is a painstaking task and some progress has been made, but much remains to be done.