Assarting

Assarting is the act of clearing forested lands for use in agriculture or other purposes. In English law, it was illegal to assart any part of a Royal forest. This was the greatest trespass that could be committed in a forest, being more than a waste: for whereas waste of the forest involves felling trees and other shrubbery, this vegetation can grow again; assarting involves completely rooting up all trees — the total extirpation of the forested area.

The term "assart" was also used for a parcel of land assarted. Assart rents were those paid to the British Crown for the forest lands assarted. The word origin is from the French word essarter meaning to remove or grub out woodland. In northern England this is referred to as "ridding".

The Process

In the Middle Ages the land cleared was usually common land but after assarting the space became privately used. The process took several forms. Usually it was done by one farmer who hacked out a clearing from the woodland leaving a hedged field. However, sometimes groups of individuals or even entire villages did the work and the results were divided into strips and shared among tenant farmers. Monastic communities, particularly the Cistercians, sometimes assarted as well as local lords.

History

Assarting has existed since Mesolithic times and often it relieved population pressures. During the 1200's assarting was very active, but decreased with environmental and economic challenges in the 1300's. The Black Death in the late 1340's depopulated the countryside and many formerly assarted areas returned to woodland.

Usually Assarting was "like bites from an apple" says landscape historian Richard Muir, being small scale but large areas were sometimes done. Occasionally, people specialized in assarting and acquired the surname or family name of 'Sart'.

Field names in Britain sometimes retain their origin in assarting or colonisation by their names such as Stocks, Stubbings, Stubs, Assart, Sart, Ridding, Royd, Brake, Breach or Hay.Many Northern French places called Les Essarts or ending with -sart refer to that practice.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) [1]