What were the open field system and the village commons?

Before the eighteenth century. England countryside was open. Peasants cultivated the strips of land. There was no individual claim on the land, Every year at a public meeting, the strips were allocated to the villagers for cultivation, It was done so that every villager had the mixture of good and bad land. This was the open field system.

Away from this land was the common land that could be accessed by every villager. Here they could pasture their cattle, collect fuelwood, fruits and hunt animals. It was termed as village Common. It supplemented the income of the poor in bad times.