ABSTRACT
The parliamentary enclosure movement offered both solutions and precedents for the tithe problem at the very time when the system was coming under its most severe and sustained attack. The solution offered by many enclosure Acts and awards was the commutation of tithe by allotments of land or cash payments. Tithe owners were spared all of the administrative costs of enclosure. When national solutions were being applied to the enormous variety of local problems, there developed the general feeling that the enclosure movement had given the tithe owner too much. Giving a standard allotment in lieu of tithe irrespective of quality was tantamount to suggesting that tithe could be safely calculated as a definite proportion of the rent. Tithe commutation was placed on the sober footing of receipts not expectation, and corn rents rather than land. Most incumbents, who corresponded with Greene about his tithe reform plans, agreed that they had been substantial gainers by exchanging tithes for land.
