Agriculture
Comparison dates (pre-17th C):
1420 – 7 million acres of arable farming land, 3 million fallow
1450 – 266 days worked per agricultural family
Water meadows in existence
1523 – Book of Husbandry: described crop rotations + specialist crops (but
limited circulation)
Early 17th C/throughout:
Literacy rates of Yeomen and Husbandmen increased
Agricultural production output increased VS share of national workforce
decreased (due to enclosure, and the closing down of subsistence
farmers/small farms)
Cultivation of coleseed/turnips/practice of floating watermeadows spread
in South/West of England
Turnip grown as a field crop in early 17th C. (Defoe records that they were
found over the East/South)
Fodder crops from the Dutch (clover) allowed new animals to be kept
(increased manuring = increased grain yields)
32.2% of farmland on large estates of over 100 acres=
300000 horses used on farmland
Huge increase in enclosure
Market gardens in Chelsea, Fulham, Whitechapel
55% of land is champion country
New crops (artichokes, clover)
Early half of the century saw falling food prices which led to innovation in
agriculture
Accelerated regional diversification: light soil areas
(Norfolk/Suffolk/Cotswolds/Kent) were better suited for new fodder crops –
produced mixed-sheep husbandry. Heavy soil areas (midland counties) –
converted to pasture farming (i.e. Leicestershire became a grazing county)
Key dates 17th C:
1605 – Gardens of London royal charter
1625 onwards – increase in use of water meadows
1640s – agricultural production in England exceeds that of all other
European countries
1650 large farms flourished
1660s – England becomes first grain exporter (2000 quarters p.a.)
1662 – Settlement Act
1664 – Royal Society establish a Georgical Committee (impact limited, but
help establish potatoes as a field crop although in some places like
Lancashire this is potentially more due to Irish influence)
o Turned landowners attention to farming – encouraged tenants to try
new husbandry through improvement clauses in their leases
Farmers responded to market forces – connection between advanced
farming practices in Norfolk/Suffolk and demand for food/industrial raw
, materials generated by Norwich/London/Dutch brewing and distilling
companies
1669 – Systema agriculturae: better received due to acceptance of
Protestant ideas and growing education/literacy
1673 – Norfolk crop rotation (Barley, wheat, turnips, clover)
1675 - 1677 grain exports 300000+ quarters p.a.
1688 - 364000 seasonal labourers
Comparison dates for end of 17th C :
23% of land is champion country
No. of days worked per agricultural family is 405
53.6% farmland on large estates over 100 acres
9 million acres/1.5 million acres, arable vs fallow land
55% of men signature-literate by 1700
Industry
Comparison dates (pre-17th C):
1560s - £600000 in cloth exports
1485 - 1714, 15 fold growth in monetary value of textile exports
Dutch immigration: 1500 in colchester in 1565-68, by 1585 to 13000
Pre-1650, European demand diminished, hence woollen cloth trade took a
toll
Early 17th C/throughout:
Thirty years’ war brings European Protestants to England (skilled workers)
Establish new draperies in Colchester/Norwich (4000+ Dutch in early 17 th
Century, bringing lace-making and stocking knitting)
Domestic system well established by early 17th century
17th century boom in fine silk paper/glass
Dominance of the London market created national prices for textiles and
grains
3 key types: coloured medley (Frome), Norfolk stuffs (Norwich), Devon
serges (combining long wool from Ireland and shot wool from Spain)
Linen made in Lancashire
Late 17th century, cottons/fustians/ribbons/tapes made on new Dutch
looms
Key dates 17th C:
1640, cloth = 92% of exports, 1660 - 74%
1650 – Leicestershire – stocking knitting frame used (from 1590s)
1650: new draperies dominant in market (particularly produced in East
Anglia), reverberatory furnace
New draperies stimulate specialist farming of flax/hemp to provide new
fibres (i.e. alum for fixing dyes) + pin-making is an offshoot of the cloth
trade
After 1650, coal output increased
Comparison dates (pre-17th C):
1420 – 7 million acres of arable farming land, 3 million fallow
1450 – 266 days worked per agricultural family
Water meadows in existence
1523 – Book of Husbandry: described crop rotations + specialist crops (but
limited circulation)
Early 17th C/throughout:
Literacy rates of Yeomen and Husbandmen increased
Agricultural production output increased VS share of national workforce
decreased (due to enclosure, and the closing down of subsistence
farmers/small farms)
Cultivation of coleseed/turnips/practice of floating watermeadows spread
in South/West of England
Turnip grown as a field crop in early 17th C. (Defoe records that they were
found over the East/South)
Fodder crops from the Dutch (clover) allowed new animals to be kept
(increased manuring = increased grain yields)
32.2% of farmland on large estates of over 100 acres=
300000 horses used on farmland
Huge increase in enclosure
Market gardens in Chelsea, Fulham, Whitechapel
55% of land is champion country
New crops (artichokes, clover)
Early half of the century saw falling food prices which led to innovation in
agriculture
Accelerated regional diversification: light soil areas
(Norfolk/Suffolk/Cotswolds/Kent) were better suited for new fodder crops –
produced mixed-sheep husbandry. Heavy soil areas (midland counties) –
converted to pasture farming (i.e. Leicestershire became a grazing county)
Key dates 17th C:
1605 – Gardens of London royal charter
1625 onwards – increase in use of water meadows
1640s – agricultural production in England exceeds that of all other
European countries
1650 large farms flourished
1660s – England becomes first grain exporter (2000 quarters p.a.)
1662 – Settlement Act
1664 – Royal Society establish a Georgical Committee (impact limited, but
help establish potatoes as a field crop although in some places like
Lancashire this is potentially more due to Irish influence)
o Turned landowners attention to farming – encouraged tenants to try
new husbandry through improvement clauses in their leases
Farmers responded to market forces – connection between advanced
farming practices in Norfolk/Suffolk and demand for food/industrial raw
, materials generated by Norwich/London/Dutch brewing and distilling
companies
1669 – Systema agriculturae: better received due to acceptance of
Protestant ideas and growing education/literacy
1673 – Norfolk crop rotation (Barley, wheat, turnips, clover)
1675 - 1677 grain exports 300000+ quarters p.a.
1688 - 364000 seasonal labourers
Comparison dates for end of 17th C :
23% of land is champion country
No. of days worked per agricultural family is 405
53.6% farmland on large estates over 100 acres
9 million acres/1.5 million acres, arable vs fallow land
55% of men signature-literate by 1700
Industry
Comparison dates (pre-17th C):
1560s - £600000 in cloth exports
1485 - 1714, 15 fold growth in monetary value of textile exports
Dutch immigration: 1500 in colchester in 1565-68, by 1585 to 13000
Pre-1650, European demand diminished, hence woollen cloth trade took a
toll
Early 17th C/throughout:
Thirty years’ war brings European Protestants to England (skilled workers)
Establish new draperies in Colchester/Norwich (4000+ Dutch in early 17 th
Century, bringing lace-making and stocking knitting)
Domestic system well established by early 17th century
17th century boom in fine silk paper/glass
Dominance of the London market created national prices for textiles and
grains
3 key types: coloured medley (Frome), Norfolk stuffs (Norwich), Devon
serges (combining long wool from Ireland and shot wool from Spain)
Linen made in Lancashire
Late 17th century, cottons/fustians/ribbons/tapes made on new Dutch
looms
Key dates 17th C:
1640, cloth = 92% of exports, 1660 - 74%
1650 – Leicestershire – stocking knitting frame used (from 1590s)
1650: new draperies dominant in market (particularly produced in East
Anglia), reverberatory furnace
New draperies stimulate specialist farming of flax/hemp to provide new
fibres (i.e. alum for fixing dyes) + pin-making is an offshoot of the cloth
trade
After 1650, coal output increased
