The Digger movement began in Surrey in April 1649, two months after the execution of King Charles I. The name comes from their practice of digging and manuring the ‘waste’ and common land, which they did both to grow food and to show that everybody has the right to the earth and its fruits. Diggers believed that freedom from poverty, hunger and oppression could be won if the earth were made a ‘Common Treasury for all’ Send a comment
