Enskifte Historical Maps of Sweden

Sweden Enskifte Historical Maps of Sweden

The Enskifte was another land reform that primarily started in Skåne, then to Skaraborg, and the rest of the kingdom by 1807. It came about due to dissatisfaction with the storskifte. It began when Rutger Macklean (an owner of an estate called Svaneholm in Skurup parish) decided to restructure the lands on his estate in 1785. Essentially he re-designed the lots with a lantmätare, creating new farm boundaries and housing locations, each farm having 40 acres on one piece of land (instead of splintered fragments) with a large arable meadow for common use. Then he forced the 701 people living and working on the lots to comply with the new design. Of the 701 people involved, 102 chose to terminate their lease and leave the estate. The land reform turned out to be very successful for the Svaneholm estate. This lead to a government ordinance that forced all the estates in Skåne to do a Enskifte. The Enskifte land reform spanned from 1803 – 1827. Although the Enskifte was carried out kingdomwide, it was difficult to do in landscapes outside of Skåne. It was never carried out in Dalarna, Norrland, or Finland.