1. WEEK 2 Was there a 17th century yeoman’s agricultural revolution?
Dr Frances Richardson
conted.ox.ac.uk
uk/series/womans-work- never-done-womens- work-england-and-wales
drive/folders/1T2z3pq_9 C_mMAakDPib3742CSH uD-ztm

2. Summary of Week 1 New crops and rotations still important
CRITERIA for AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION
Conceptual and empirical
Technical:
A wide variety of changes in farming techniques
Success in responding to the challenge of feeding a growing population
An increase in output brought about by rising productivity
Institutional:
Subsistence or capitalist farming
Private property rights, farm tenures
How workers were employed
New crops and rotations still important
Greater prominence for increased animal output
Increased emphasis on convertible husbandry and regional specialisation
Innovation possible in the open fields
Capitalist institutions such as large farms were not a necessary condition for growth
Britain more industrialised by 1700 than previously thought – 37% of men worked in crafts and industry
Only 50% of men worked in agriculture c Critical shift of labour from agriculture to industry started well before the classic period of agricultural revolution
Food production must have increased significantly before 1700.
Agricultural productivity showed steady improvement over a longer period – less ‘revolutionary’

3. Timing Three main periods of ‘revolution’ in England Scotland
A 17c yeoman’s revolution (Bob Allen)
The 18c landlord’s revolution (Overton, Mingay)
The 19c ‘second agricultural revolution’ (Thompson)
Scotland
Rapid change in later 18c

4. 1 2 3 Overview INSTITUTIONAL IMPACT on OUTPUT and PRODUCTIVITY
Background & TECHNICAL 1
INSTITUTIONAL
- Who were the yeomen farmers?
- (Peasant v capitalist agriculture) 2
IMPACT on OUTPUT and PRODUCTIVITY 3

5. DISCUSSION
Was there a ‘yeoman’s agricultural revolution’ in the seventeenth century?
What is the evidence from Blith for new agricultural methods in the 17c?
What other major agricultural changes took place in the 17th century?

6. The agricultural economy 1660-1750
Declining population
Agricultural depression and
Low prices for traditional produce, especially corn and wool
Changing fashions in food
Rising food demand from London, other urban and industrial areas
Increased demand for industrial crops
Growth of national markets
Incentives for gentry to manage estates more efficiently
Stimulus to increase efficiency.
More grass needed

7. Technical The old system - England
Ideal type English open field village
Open field 1
wheat
Open field 2
barley
Open field 3
fallow
Meadow
Common
Home farm or former demesne
Manor house
2 fields growing corn in individual strips
Meadow divided into strips to provide hay for winter feed
Cornfields and meadow thrown open after harvest for common grazing
3rd field fallow, grazed by animals at night to manure and clear weeds
Common for grazing animals at other times, timber, fuel etc
Former manor demesne leased out as enclosed farm

8. Scotland Infield – inner circle Outfield – outer circle
Fermtoun farming unit, often shared
Lowland infield-outfield system, significant areas of waste or rough grazing
Infield cropped with fallow every 3 years
Outfield folds shifted in rotation between grass and arable
Families held scattered rigs (strips)
Common cropping and grazing pattern
Common herd moved around infield, outfield and commonty
Cottars held land in return for labour
J. Slezer, Theatrum Scotiae (1693)

9. wales Welsh gwely or gavel landholding
Cefn Cyfarwydd
meadow
Individual farms
Communal meadow
Communal rough grazing
Cefn Cyfarwydd
meadow
In Welsh Wales, e.g. NW, land held by kinship groups
Gwely for free kindred, gavel for bond land
Land held collectively by gwely till 16c Acts of Union
Individual farmsteads, land could be reapportioned among kindred
Communal meadow for hay, cattle graze after hay harvest
Communal rough grazing in hills
Acts of Union made enclosed land private property
Typical 7 year rotation, 3 crops, left to grass for 4

10. TECHNICAL – 17th century innovations
New crops v new farming systems
New crops:
- turnips
clover, sainfoin, ryegrass
potatoes
tobacco
New system – convertible husbandry
Land improvement – water meadows
Land reclamation - fen drainage

11. Convertible husbandry ley farming, up and down husbandry
DEFINITION:
Alteration of arable and grass in place of fixed division between permanent arable and permanent pasture
BENEFITS:
Could operate in open fields
Grass and legumes better-suited to heavy clays than corn (or turnips)
Allowed a fairly intensive mixed farming
AIMS:
Temporary grass (leys) used to feed more animals
Alternating arable and pasture almost eliminated need for fallows
UPTAKE – expanded in Midlands till 1650

12. Evidence of improvement in the open fields
Use of sainfoin, clover and improved grasses in the rotation of crops
Improved soil nitrogen and fertility
More fodder
More animals and manure
Better crop yields
Reduced fallow, diversified output

13. Oxfordshire open-field improvement
Public domain
In 17th century Oxfordshire, numerous examples of 2 open fields divided into 4
Introduction of new crops
Reorganisation to allow extra field for sainfoin/clover/improved grass
OR local agreements to temporarily enclose part of open field and all farmers to grow sainfoin/clover/grass
Division of open fields aimed to reduce fallow
Hitching = using part of fallow used for fodder crops
Increase in wheat, reduction of barley and rye
Increased sheep numbers
Spelsbury

14. 2. INSTITUTIONAL Who were the yeoman farmers?
TENANT
Freehold
Type of tenure
Secure
Insecure
Type of payment
Tenancy at will
Rack rent
Quit rent or none
Copyhold of inheritance
Copyhold for 3 lives
Beneficial lease (3 lives or 21 years)
Short lease e.g. 7 years
Entry fine plus low annual rent
Buying lease

15. 3. Allen’s yeoman’s agricultural revolution
DISCUSSION
Why does Allen argue that agricultural productivity was increased more by a yeoman’s agricultural revolution in the 17c?
Why is Allen’s view contested?

16. Allan’s theory
Yeoman’s agricultural revolution of the 17th century, landlords’ of the 18th century
The 17c yeoman’s revolution doubled corn yields and labour productivity, and significantly increased national income
Open field farmers achieved 75-90% of yield increase to 1800
Its benefits were distributed widely among the population
The 18c landlords’ revolution – mainly enclosure and farm amalgamation – added only 14% to grain yields
Productivity was increased by reducing labour – led to surplus labour
Landlords were the only beneficiaries

17. What raised crop yields?
IMPACT OF ENCLOSURE
Enclosed villages more likely to undertake new techniques
Boosted yields by 25% in heavy arable district
No difference in yields on light lands between enclosed and unenclosed villages
Conversion of arable to pasture lowered total output
Large farms did not have higher yields
EVIDENCE of increased corn yields
CAUSES of increased yields:
Installation of hollow drains in heavy district
Higher livestock density led to higher yields
Improved seed selection in 17c
Tenurial changes – yeomen had incentive to improve productivity, London and industrial demand
Source: Allen, Enclosure and the Yeoman (1992)

18. Criticisms of Allen’s theory
Overton:
- ‘Examples where conclusions do not square with examples, yet there is considerable value in this book’
Boyer:
- ‘Outstanding and very important At times he makes strong assertions based on little evidence’ e.g. rents, causes of grain yield increase, origins of labour surplus and faster birth rate.
- To what extent do Allen’s finding for the south Midlands hold good for the country as a whole?
Turner:
- ‘I may not like everything I read here, but this is a vital book’

19. Regional specialization

20. The evidence problem Type of evidence Period
Local studies – probate inventories, manorial agreements, tithe payments
Before 1750
Regional studies – Agrarian History of England and Wales, Vol. V
Farmers’ accounts
From 1700
Enclosure maps and awards, estate surveys
Arthur Young and Board of Agriculture reports
National crop returns
1801
Tithe commutation files
1830s - 40s
National Agricultural statistics
From 1867

21. Kussmaul’s General View of rural economy
Kussmaul used marriage registers for 542 English rural parishes to explore marriage seasons:
Autumn marriages after harvest in mainly arable areas
Spring marriages in pastoral areas after lambing
No clear pattern in rural industrial areas
Before 1600, most areas had autumn marriages = importance of arable farming
Changes between 1640 and 1740
Dramatic changes in regional farming types:
West and Midlands become more pastoral
East becomes more arable
Growth of rural industry in Midlands and Pennines

22. Changes after 1740 Change from pastoral 1740-1840
Change from arable
Majority of arable to pastoral change took place before 1740
Further growth of rural industrial pattern
Change from pastoral
Increased arable in north Norfolk Heathlands and SE Midlands before 1740 – start of ‘light lands revolution’
Further light lands conversion to arable in Cotswolds and North Downs after 1740
Some Midland areas that became pastoral before 1740 revert to arable with ‘heavy clays revolution’
Regional specialization a major if not the most important factor in raising national agricultural productivity

23. Prep for week 3: Improved farming methods
Discussion topic
For one of the following new crops or farming methods, describe in up to 2 minutes:
Why it was adopted
Which land, soil or climate conditions it suited
How successfully it spread
Prep for week 3: Improved farming methods
cheese farming in Wiltshire
A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 4
convertible husbandry
Broad, ‘Alternate husbandry’
hops
Bowden, ‘Agricultural prices, wages, farm profits, and rents’
market gardening
Thick, ‘Market gardening’
stock fattening
Williamson, The Transformation of Rural England
tobacco
Thirsk, The Rural Economy of England
turnips
Overton, Agricultural Revolution
water meadows
Smith, Water Meadows
fen drainage
Williamson, Transformation, pp

24. Background reading: - Overton, Agricultural Revolution, Ch. 3
Conted. Library
Williamson, Transformation of Rural England, Ch. 3, 4 or 7
J. Thirsk (ed.) The Agrarian History of England and Wales, Vol VI , Part I Ch. I.II, ‘Changes in land use’