open-field system: greatest accomplishment of

Medieval agriculture
village agriculture; 1/3 to ½ of fields lay fallow.
Common land: used by village for livestock – fields
shared by peasants.
serfs in eastern Europe were worst off; many sold with
lands (like slavery)
 People have to walk Field left fallow
over your strips to
reach theirs

Difficult
No hedges to take
or fences advantage
of new
No proper farming
drainage techniques

Because land in different Animals can

fields takes time to get to trample crops
each field and spread
disease
Agricultural Revolution: The innovations in farm
production that began in the 18th century and led to a
scientific and mechanized agriculture
Major milestone in human civilization
Impact of the scientific revolution’s experimental
method was great
Application of scientific ideas - crop rotation most
important feature.
This meant enclosing the land.
end to common lands and open-field system
The open fields were divided up and everyone who
could prove they owned some land would get a share.
Dividing the open land into small fields and putting
hedges and fences around them. Everyone had their
own fields and could use them how they wished.
Open land and common land would also be enclosed
and divided up.
traditional view of enclosure (Marx): poor people
driven off the land
recent scholarship: negative impact of enclosure
may have been exaggerated
As much as 50% of lands enclosed already by 1750
(much by mutual consent)
1700: ratio of landless farmer to landowner = 2:1;
not much greater in 1800
Enclosure might have increased the efficiency of farming in
England, but it wasn’t good news for everyone who lived in
the countryside.
What type of farmland was lost during enclosure?

How might this have made life more difficult for

some villagers?

Many poorer people relied on the

common land to supplement
their tiny incomes. After
enclosure, there was nowhere
for them to graze a few animals,
collect tinder or pick berries.
Yes, the better off farmers and landowners gained the most -
the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. People who had no
written proof of ownership lost their land altogether. Some
couldn’t afford to pay for fences and had to sell their land.
These people either became labourers on other people’s land
or headed for the towns to try and get a job.
One farm laborer said: ‘All I know is that I had a cow and an
Act of Parliament has taken it from me.’ There were riots in
some villages.
Many farmers sought to improve their crop yields. To do this,
they improved the soil by muck spreading, adding lime or
planting crops which put nitrogen back into the ground.

Fodder crops, such as turnips

and clover, were grown. These r 1

Ye
ea
helped restore the soil’s fertility, Y

ar
W
he ps

2
i
so there was no longer any a t rn
Tu
need to leave the land fallow.
er Ba
These new crops could be fed to o v rle
Ye Cl y
livestock, allowing animals to be a

3
r4
kept over the winter, rather than

ar
Ye
being slaughtered in the autumn.
Enclosure allowed farmers to control the breeding of their
livestock because the animals could be separated into
different fields.
The farmer could
then select the best
individuals to breed
from in order to
produce the biggest,
healthiest offspring.
This is known as selective breeding.
The new fodder crops also helped farmers produce more
meat, as they could now keep most of their animals through
the winter, instead of slaughtering many at a young age.
As a result, cattle more than doubled in weight and
sheep more than tripled between 1710 and 1795.
Before 1750, most people were subsistence farmers.
This means that they produced only what they needed to
survive. Across Britain, families each grew a little corn,
some root vegetables and kept a few animals.
Enclosure allowed farmers to specialize
in the crops or animals best suited to
their local climate, soil and terrain.
For example, the flat fertile land in East
Anglia was ideal for wheat; fruit trees
flourished best in Kent, while the hills of
Wales were great for sheep farming.

Farming was far more productive if the conditions were ideal.

Farmers became experts in their specialist produce.

 Before 1750, farming was
done by hand, with horses
pulling ploughs and carts.

With the growth of the iron industry, new, heavy duty

tools could be mass produced.

New machines were

invented for activities
such as threshing corn.
 Many machines were
still horse-powered,
but by the 1850s there
were steam-powered
traction engines
which powered
ploughs, chaff-cutters
and other machines.

These new machines transformed work in the countryside.

One or two men could operate a steam tractor which would
do the work of ten men.