The Rich Stole The Common Off The Goose

They hang the man, and flog the woman,
That steals the goose from off the common.
But let the greater villain loose,
That steals the common off the goose.
(A 17th Century Protest Rhyme)

How far back do we have to go to reach a point where land in Britain was held in common?
The builder of the first fence was effectively the first squatter.
Only by force of might, and the complicity of other fencers, would their enclosures come to be regarded as personal property.
In April 1649, a group of dispossessed Roundhead soldiers set up camp on common land at St. Georges Hill, Weybridge, Surrey.
It was their belief that the Earth was a common treasury for all to share, and they worked towards the foundation of a self-sufficient community.
Within five months, and after repeated mob attacks, soldiers forcibly evicted the camp by order of the courts.
The common land, designated as such to provide for the many, had become the preserve of the wealthy few.
At St. George’s Hill more than 360 years on, property averages £3 million, and the government still seeks to outlaw those too impoverished to be landowners or tenants.
How can the need for shelter be a criminal act?
In 2009 there were more than 725,000 empty homes in England.