Probably of greatest significance to the farming of the South East Region is its proximity to London, which provided a growing market for most goods, especially corn and specialised produce such as fruit, cider and hops.
Water transport, including coastal shipping, meant that much of the South East Region could continue to specialise in wool and corn production, even in periods when in other Regions arable significantly contracted in favour of pastoral farming. Areas without access to water transport, or where corn was less profitable, specialised in stock that could be driven to market, or in higher value goods that made land transport financially viable.
A distinctive feature of farms of the South East Region was the contrast between the large capital-intensive arable landscapes and the smaller mixed farms of wood-pasture landscapes, which supported a greater degree of diversity in agricultural practice, including woodland enterprises, fruit growing, dairying and fatstock. The arable areas were hard-hit by the depression of the 1870s, which resulted in a shift to dairying.
©2007 English Heritage