The Enclosure Act was a series of laws that were first introduced in England in 1604. The Act decreed that fences (enclosures) could be put around common land, thereby bestowing the ownership of one person what had previously belonged to everyone. This progress does not sit well with many people, particularly those whose quiete pastoral life is disrupted by change.
Thomas Thirsk narrates the story of his remote and tiny English village, where a group of strangers have arrived on the outskirts. The stables burn down which coincides with their arrival, and when nobody admits to starting the fire, a vigilante mob sets about finding evidence that will identify the culprit. The goal of the mob is to prove that the fire was set not by one of the villagers but by one of the traveling strangers who have just arrived.
There is an altercation with the strangers and the men amongst them are arrested and chained to the pillory, a public punishment device in the village square. There is a woman traveling with them too; she does not escape punishment, and her head is shaved. She is ordered to submit to the will of the village men.
There are also more positive things happening in the village at the time. Young Lizzie Carr has been selected to be the Gleaning Queaen of the annual festival. However, the celebration of the festival is interrupted when the shaven-headed woman makes her escape and flees towards the woods. Another of the traveling strangers, an older man, has passed away whilst standing chained in the pillory.
Master Kent, the erstwhile head of the village, has a cousin named Edmund Jordan who has arrived to make his own claim on the land that Kent now owns. He wants to change the village completely by making it less remote and introducing more of a community. He also wants to build a church in the center. To feather his own nest he will fence off another area solely for raising sheep which will cut off the villagers' access to the "leftovers" from the harvest and leave them unable to feed themselves or their families. Mr Kent's beloved horse, Willowjack, is murdered on the night that his cousin arrives. Jordan issues a statement that whomever is responsible for this will be hung. A bloodstained shawl is found nearby, belonging to the female traveller who has escaped, but Mr Kent claims that the shawl belonged to his wife, thereby sparing the traveller, whom the villagers call Mistress Beldam, from being hunted like prey in the woods. He blames the murder of his horse and the theft of the shawl on an un-named ruffian whom he claims to have been causing havoc in the village. Although Jordan takes the story at face value - and how can he not, given Master Kent is a respected and honorable man - many of the villagers later tell him privately and voice their suspicions that the real culprit is Mistress Beldam. They believe very strongly that she is a witch.
Mr Quill, the crippled chartmaker whom Master Kent has hired to chart out a map of the village and its new boundaries, decides to take matters into his own hands and do a little investigation of his own. He begins to befriend the remaining stranger who is still locked up in the pillory. He learns that the young man is Mistress Bedlam's husband and that they left their own home town when it began to focus on livestock farming rather than arable, and when food became scarce as a result. Mr Quill and Walter wait by the pillory that night, waiting for Mistress Beldam to bring food and water to her pilloried husband. When she arrives they chase after her. Three women are apprehended by Jordan and his henchmen and accused of being followers of witchcraft. They tell Jordan that Mr Quill is the leader of their covern.
Lizze Carr is one of the ladies imprisoned for being a witch and her family attack Jordan's groom when he tells them that Lizzie will be burned at the stake. There is a scuffle and the groom's face is slashed with a knife. The Carr family scatters, fearing punishment. The entire village packs up and leaves by daybreak with only Walter left behind. All former accusations against him are forgiven by an ebullient Jordan who is in celebratory mood now that the villagers have left. Walter will remain behind as his eyes on the ground in return for the release of the three young women, including Lizzie Carr. Walter is ordered to release the young traveller in the pillory when, and only when, his sentence is fully completed. However, after watching Jordan and Kent leave, taking the three women with them, Walter releases the traveller early in exchange for his help in seeding and ploughing the fields. It is Walter's revenge upon Jordan who wants the fields left for the sheep.
Walter gets drunk that night, and high on hallucinogenic fairy cap mushrooms from the forest floor. Ale and mushrooms do not mix well, and he passes out in the bedroom of the Manor House where he has been sleeping. When he wakes and in the morning, he feels better, but notices that his bags have been packed. Further investigation finds that Mistress Beldam has reunited with her husband and the two are living as if Lord and Lady of the Manor. They have destroyed everything nice in the house. Walter moves his things up to the attic, intending to live out of their way up there.
He looks out of the attic window and sees Mistress Beldam and her husband outside. They have stolen everything from the Manor House that they did not destroy, and piled it onto a cart, which they intend to use stolen oxen to pull along. They are now systematically setting fire to all of the buildings. Walter is scared that they will set fire to the Manor House with him still inside it and so he gets ready to leave, but on his way he notices a pool of blood near a large chest by the door. When he opens the chest he sees Mr Quill's body. He cannot be sure who killed his friend but he knows that he is in danger.
The Beldams leave without setting fire to the Manor House, and so Walter decides to finish the job for them. He burns it to the ground, considering it a fitting cremation for his friend Mr Quill. He also burns Quill's maps so that there is no record of what the peaceful little village looked like the week before it was destroyed. Quill's maps detailing Jordan's intentions for the village are also burned. Walter picks up his bags, and leaves the village, seeking out new pastures and a fresh start.
