John Gurney is a Visiting Fellow in the School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University

• PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSLIST OF ABBREVIATIONS1: Parish, community and social relations in CobhamFamily, occupation and social structureManor and parishPopulationPopulation pressuresLandlords and tenantsChapter 2: The parish of Cobham and the Civil War The coming of warRural popular protestThe impact of warThe costs of warSocial conflictThe manor of Cobham during the Civil WarChapter 3: Gerrard WinstanleyFamily backgroundMarriageWinstanley’s bankruptcyThe move to CobhamSurrey politicsChapter 4: Winstanley: the early writingsInfluencesTowards the restoration of communityContextChapter 5: The Diggers on St George’s Hill The first phaseIdentifying the DiggersSt George’s HillChapter 6: The Diggers and the local community Reactions to the Diggers in WaltonThe Diggers in CobhamThe end of the Digger colonyChapter 7: Aftermath

This work attempts to place the Diggers in context on a number of different levels: locally, nationally, politically, and intellectually. The aim is to improve our comprehension of the Diggers in their time and place without having Winstanley dominate the account; this is a laudable change of focus, as a prolific radical theorist can skew the analysis.

John Gurney is a Visiting Fellow in the School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University

• PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSLIST OF ABBREVIATIONS1: Parish, community and social relations in CobhamFamily, occupation and social structureManor and parishPopulationPopulation pressuresLandlords and tenantsChapter 2: The parish of Cobham and the Civil War The coming of warRural popular protestThe impact of warThe costs of warSocial conflictThe manor of Cobham during the Civil WarChapter 3: Gerrard WinstanleyFamily backgroundMarriageWinstanley’s bankruptcyThe move to CobhamSurrey politicsChapter 4: Winstanley: the early writingsInfluencesTowards the restoration of communityContextChapter 5: The Diggers on St George’s Hill The first phaseIdentifying the DiggersSt George’s HillChapter 6: The Diggers and the local community Reactions to the Diggers in WaltonThe Diggers in CobhamThe end of the Digger colonyChapter 7: Aftermath

This work attempts to place the Diggers in context on a number of different levels: locally, nationally, politically, and intellectually. The aim is to improve our comprehension of the Diggers in their time and place without having Winstanley dominate the account; this is a laudable change of focus, as a prolific radical theorist can skew the analysis.

John Gurney is a Visiting Fellow in the School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University

• PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSLIST OF ABBREVIATIONS1: Parish, community and social relations in CobhamFamily, occupation and social structureManor and parishPopulationPopulation pressuresLandlords and tenantsChapter 2: The parish of Cobham and the Civil War The coming of warRural popular protestThe impact of warThe costs of warSocial conflictThe manor of Cobham during the Civil WarChapter 3: Gerrard WinstanleyFamily backgroundMarriageWinstanley’s bankruptcyThe move to CobhamSurrey politicsChapter 4: Winstanley: the early writingsInfluencesTowards the restoration of communityContextChapter 5: The Diggers on St George’s Hill The first phaseIdentifying the DiggersSt George’s HillChapter 6: The Diggers and the local community Reactions to the Diggers in WaltonThe Diggers in CobhamThe end of the Digger colonyChapter 7: Aftermath

This work attempts to place the Diggers in context on a number of different levels: locally, nationally, politically, and intellectually. The aim is to improve our comprehension of the Diggers in their time and place without having Winstanley dominate the account; this is a laudable change of focus, as a prolific radical theorist can skew the analysis.