View source for Waste

'''Waste''' was a generic term used after the [[Norman conquest]] to
refer to land which had formerly been cultivated 
and settled but had fallen into neglect.  Depopulated
and discarded, the land reverted to wilderness 
-- first overgrown with grass, then with scrub and finally with trees.  In some
cases the waste was a deliberate policy, either 
of the overlord of the land, or of the [[tenant]]s who
simply moved away.  In others settlements simply failed, and no-one bothered to 
keep them up. Some, of course, became waste when [[William I]]'s army was engaged 
in suppressing [[rebellion]]s.

The phrase became more commonplace when it was used as
a generic term in the [[Domesday Book]], 
when it served as a rationale for reduced or lost
income, either at the time of [[Edward the Confessor|King Edward]] or subsequently.