f Agricultural revelation: Land, labour and voice in three films about Laxton

The Nottinghamshire village of Laxton is unique in that only there has survived the common, or open-field system of farming, with its substantial elements of community participation and control. By the early twentieth century, public recognition of its historical significance facilitated attempts to preserve it. At three moments when the open-field system was critically endangered – in 1935, 1975 and 1981– documentary film-makers made the case for its importance. The utopian vision of these films becomes newly pertinent as Brexit now precipitates a new crisis for the village.