GERRARD WINSTANLEY AND THE CONTEXT OF PLACE

This paper explores the development of Winstanley's ideas in terms of the context of place. Although the influence on Winstanley of his early experiences in Wigan and London is difficult to determine, in Surrey we can see a clear connection between locality and the shaping of his ideas. Winstanley moved to the Surrey parish of Cobham in late 1643, and his observations and experiences of tensions and conflicts within the local community there can be seen to have fed directly into his Digger program of 1649-1650. This program drew on local traditions of social conflict, but it would seem that Winstanley departed significantly from these traditions in his outright hostility to custom and in his adoption of Norman Yoke theories. Custom had long been invoked in conflicts between tenants and lords of manors, and was a crucial weapon in the defense of popular rights, but for Winstanley it always formed part of the armory of the oppressor. His rejection of custom did not, however, prevent him from gaining significant support for the Digger venture from among local inhabitants.