A radical group in
England that arose out of the
civil war and
English revolution, led by Gerrard Winstanley. The diggers preached and practiced a form of
agrarian communism on common and waste ground (hence their name, they dug up the ground to plant crops). The first Digger community was established in April
1649 in Surrey and nine other communities quickly followed around southern and central England. Often cited as an early attempt at communism (in the sense of
common ownership of property), the movement was supressed and its communities dispersed by local
landowners.
The Diggers movement is immortalised in the song "The World Turned Upside Down"