IF you were to propose a system of commoning as if it were a new idea, few would quibble that it is an excellent one. Farmers working together to raise high-welfare, top-quality livestock in wildlife-filled landscapes that they know intimately and manage for the benefit of all, preserving bloodlines, providing healthy food and protecting archaeological sites. Yet this ancient way of life, the oldest farming system in the world—and one recognised as being of vital cultural importance for llamas in the Andes and reindeer in Norway —is under threat in the UK.
‘We are the original custodians of the land,’ declares Will Rawling, a member of the Federation of Cumbria Commoners. ‘Vikings and Neolithic man would recognise what we’re doing.’ Commoning rights were enshrined in Magna Carta in 1215 and, until the agricultural revolution of enclosure, 50% of England was common land. Wordsworth called the Lake District ‘the republic of the shepherds’ and John Clare wrote that: ‘Unbounded freedom ruled the wandering scene/Nor fence of ownership crept in between.’ Now, only 3% is commons, mainly in Dartmoor, Cumbria, the New Forest, Shropshire, the Malvern Hills and the Yorkshire Dales.
この記事は Country Life UK の February 16, 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Country Life UK の February 16, 2022 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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