Up to 1750
Agricultural development in England from the 12th century can be summarised as follows:
Up to 1750
Economic boom in the 12th and 13th centuries, which included the building of large farms on monastic and large estates, was followed by contraction of settlement and the leasing out of estates after the famines and plagues of the 14th century. The period from the 15th century was characterised by a general increase in agricultural incomes and productivity and the emergence – particularly from 1660 - of increasingly market-based and specialised regional economies. Farm sizes increased, especially in more capital-intensive arable areas or in areas dominated by commercial sheep farming.
Survival
The best-known survivals are the great barns of the great medieval (pre-1550 period) estates which related to farmstead groups for which documentary but very little archaeological evidence exists. Farmhouses and other buildings (especially barns) which survive from below this high-status level provide the first evidence for wealth generated solely from local agriculture and of a class of farmers counted as among the wealthiest in Europe.
Substantially complete farm buildings of the 1550-1750 period are rare: typically only the farmhouse and barn survive although in upland areas there are many late 17th and 18th century farmsteads with farm buildings attached to their farmhouse. They often provide the first surviving evidence for the development and strengthening of regional traditions and building types.
 Distribution of listed farmhouses in England: On the left: pre-1550 and on the right: 1550—1750 © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. English Heritage 100019088. 2005 |
 Distribution of listed farmhouses in England: On the left: pre-1550 and on the right: 1550—1750 © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. English Heritage 100019088. 2005 |
To read about Historical Development in a national context from 1750 to 1880, please click here.
National Historical Development Periods
National Context Content
Regional Character Summaries
©2007 English Heritage