<P> No man's land is land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty . The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms . In modern times, it is commonly associated with World War I to describe the area of land between two enemy trench systems, which neither side wished to cross or seize due to fear of being attacked by the enemy in the process . </P> <P> According to Alasdair Pinkerton, an expert in human geography at the Royal Holloway University of London, the term is first mentioned in Domesday Book in the 11th century to describe parcels of land that were just beyond the London city walls . The Oxford English Dictionary contains a reference to the term dating back to 1320, and spelled nonesmanneslond, when the term was used to describe a disputed territory or one over which there was legal disagreement . The same term was later used as the name for the piece of land outside the north wall of London that was assigned as the place of execution . The term was applied to a little - used area on ships called the forecastle, a place where various ropes, tackle, block, and other supplies were stored . In the United Kingdom several places called No Man's Land denoted "extra-parochial spaces that were beyond the rule of the church, beyond the rule of different fiefdoms that were handed out by the king...ribbons of land between these different regimes of power". </P>

What was no man's land and why was it called that
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