BattlefieldsNeroche Forest Riot — Somerset Anti-Enclosure 1627
English Civil War

Neroche Forest Riot — Somerset Anti-Enclosure 1627

1627
Somerset, England
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Pitched Battle
Location
Somerset, England
Status
Unregistered
The Combatants

Who Fought

Forces
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Crown patent holders
VS
Victor
Not recorded in historical accounts
Forces
Somerset commoners
Outcome
Enclosures pulled down; commoners asserted traditional rights; crown forest policy resisted; some prosecutions followed
The Battle

History & Significance

Neroche Forest on the Somerset-Dorset border was subject to disafforestation pressure in the 1620s, provoking riots among the forest commoners. The Neroche rioters pulled down fences and drove off surveyors in 1627 in a pattern identical to the Gillingham and Braydon disorders. Somerset justices struggled to enforce crown forest policy against determined popular resistance.

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