Nine out of ten people in England lived by farming the land in the 15th, 16th and 17th centauries. Everyone else depended on this production. The income of the aristocracy and gentry largely came from farming their own estates or from rents paid by their tenants. The major industry of the time, weaving woolen cloth, depended on agriculture for its raw materials - wool from sheep and also flax to make linen. Everyone received most or all of their food and drink from foodstuffs grown in England. Only the rich could afford the luxury of imported food and drink like wine, sugar, dates, currents, raisins and figs.

There were many regional variations in the type of agriculture and a growth towards specialisation by region, e.g. "As different as Chalk and Cheese". This well know phrase comes from the differing type of pasture available - Chalk downs are best used for keeping sheep, whilst clay soils are good to raise cattle which in turn provide milk for cheese making. Most farms would grow crops and keep animals. Even the lowliest of farmers would keep a pig or a goat. Goats and pigs would eat anything. Nothing was wasted.

Types of Husbandry

The medieval open field system called "Champion" still existed in many parts of England. There was also "enclosed" or "woodland" farming which is similar to what we perceived as a farm today.

Champion

Each manor had several tenants and it consisted of arable land, meadow, pasture and waste. The arable land was divided into two or three fields divided up into strips bounded by balks and allotted to the tenants in such a way that one "holding" might include several disconnected strips in each field. This was a measure designed to prevent the whole of the best land falling to one person.

Wheat, the main food, used for making bread and pastry, was sown in Autumn and reaped the next August. The following spring, oats or barley (for ale) were sown, and the year following the harvest was a period of fallow where the land was allowed to recover its virtue. This procedure was followed on each of the three fields so that in every year one of them was fallow. In addition to the cereals, beans, peas and vetches were grown which helped to improve the land. The meadow-land was also divided into strips from which the various holders drew their supply of hay to feed their animals in Winter. The pasture-land was common to all, though the number of beasts which one person might turn into it was often limited. Rough grazing could also be had on the outlying waste lands. Grazing was also available after the harvest on the arable land. The animals would eat anything that was left and their waste would fertilise the soil for the next crop. Tenants also had the rights of "Estovers" (to gather wood), Pannage (pasturing of swine to eat acorns and beech mast), Turbary (digging of peat for fuel) and Marl (a clay used to fertilise the land).

Woodland

It consisted of small enclosed fields which could have been newly cut out of woodland and "waste" to make pasture for animals. There was also a tendency for the landowners (Lords of the Manor) to enclose the "waste" and "pasture" land in order to keep sheep for themselves or rent it to tenants who would pasture sheep and cattle. This reduced the amount of land available for the very small scale farmers and caused a lot of vagrancy and a movement of labour to the town.

Farmers

There were many different types of farmer: Gentry, Priests, Yeomen, Husbandmen and Labourers.

At the top of the agricultural tree were the Gentry who were "Lords of the Manor". The Lord of the Manor would have a local court, called a Court Leet, which was responsible for local justice, meeting twice a year and the Court Baron for local administration which met more regularly. The Lord of the Manor himself would probably own several such manors. He might spend a lot of time travelling on business or on local administrative duties. Many were magistrates or held other offices on behalf of the crown. To run their estate they would have senior servants: a Reeve who ran their farm for them, a Bailiff to collect the rents of their tenants and a Steward who ran the Manor house and the Courts Leet and Baron.

The Priest would receive a tithe (one tenth) of the value of the annual production of each farm this was his income. This might be in money but would usually be in produce or livestock. These would require looking after and storing or selling to provide an income. The priest would employ labourers to look after the "Tithe Farm" or sell the rights to the tithe to another farmer.

Yeoman farmers who were quite prosperous and could, by hard work, obtain enough freehold land of their own to eventually be described as "Gentlemen". He could probably afford to employ servants and day labourers to help run his holding. A maid or two to help his goodwife, a shepherd to look after his sheep, a ploughman to look after the arable crops and day labourers as and when necessary, particularly during the harvest season. He would probably own some of his land and his house as freehoild and rent a little more from the local gentry and/or, prior to the dissolution of the monasteries, from the local abbey. He might "farm" the tithe of the local parish, that is paying a free for the right to receive the tithe from the parishioners.

Then there were Husbandmen who along with his huswif and children would do all the jobs on his small holding. He would pay a rent to the Lord of the Manor for his land and possibly have to do some work for him at harvest time. Day labouring for Yeoman farmers at harvest time might bring in a small income and his wife might sell a little butter and cheese at the local market to make ends meet.

The Labourer would live in a small hovel and have a few acres to farm to supply the basics for his family. He would have to earn more by working for the other farmers or have a trade such as weaving or knitting.