Section A1- Economic development

Enclosure

Enclosure

• consolidating scattered holding into blocks of land usually by fencing them. The enclosure would then be reserved for the sole use of a single landowner.

• makes sure crops not duplicated so fewer rivals in each region

• stimulated wool production intensifed in the 17th cent

• Sherington in Buckinghamshire when modest freeholders were driven out because of indebtedness after 1660

New crops and Crop Rotations

• 1/3 fields left for nutrients to be restored to the soil but not enough time & lower yield.

• New nitrogen rich crops and clover used

• 1420 - 3 million acres fallow to 1700 only 1.8 million left fallo

   A number of new crops were introduced to Britain in the 17th Century, including artichokes, asparagus, and clover

Water meadows

• worked by dredging water from nearby river to a field regulated by gates and dams.

• Aim - not flood the ground but soil damp - no frost in early spring encouraging grass to grow.

• sheep and cattle feed in this in early spring, moving onto pasture by early summer

• leaving grass and hay to be harvested

• hat 630,000 horses were used in 1700 compared to 300,000 and hundred years before. 

  
  

Specialised Farming

• improved economic conditions for many farmers.

• Allowed yeomen to experiment with new techniques and crops

• As transport links improved, opportunities to develop national markets.

• E.G Cheshire - damp soil - cattle (cheese)

Growth in production and employment

• small tenants suffered due to enclosure and small holding became unsustainable employment

• wage of independent agricultural labourers rose

• employment of larger landowners relatively secure

• 240,000 people involved in skilled crafts by end of the period

• stable employment grew for those who has served 7yr apprenticeship- 1 mill employed

husbandmen less than 4o acres = not good profit

Capital investment in farming

• higher gentry could afford to buy neighbouring farms, enclose it & buy new crops

• large farms flourished after 1650 as population and inflation less

• land owners could improve their land cheapish as labour and material became available

• farmers could invest in city markets - demand high

• farms e.g south midlands in 1700 53.6% of agricultural land was part of a large estate over 100 acres.

 Gentry and Aristoc meant productivity increased and farms were now able to became specialised 

National markets and market gardens

• Population growth - more demand for food e.g London

• shipments of grain to 14,605,000 kg in 1661.

• required better roads and infrastructure and specialist merchants to take them to market

• Market gardens developed in London eg Whitechapel and Fulham thrived on abundance agricultural land eg Oxfordshire via the Thames River.

Cloth exports

• expanded and sustained by population growth in Tudor and Stuart periods.

• Population growth = more labour and putting out system flourished

• The boom in international markets benefitted the cloth industry and the value of exports rose from £600,000 in the 1560s to London alone exporting £1.5 million of textiles in the 1660s.

• North accounted for 92% of exports in 1640s

  1700 was 72%

• free of taxes and regulation experienced by guild based industries in towns.

Growth of the ‘putting out system’ or ‘domestic system’

• Subcontracting of labour to those who could work from home

• anyone in family could work and combine production of cloth and rearing of children

• merchants provide raw materials and collect from houses when ready to be sold at market

• 92% of exports out of ldn in 1640.

New draperies

• New draperies popular in Europe as fashion changed

• Heavy wool replaced with lighter mix of wool, linen, cotton & silk

• domestic cloth trade remained relatively buoyant and output didn’t change much until the 2nd half of the century

  • Traditional Cloth centers fell into decline and changed their economic focus but Norwich and Colchester flourished and became the new focus of production to those employed in making new draperies.

Protestant Immigration

• Just over 1,500 protestant Dutch immigrants had settled into Colchester after 1565-68.

• Level of immigration decreased markedly after the foundation of the Dutch republic in 1581 ending Catholic Hapsburg rule

• Protestants no longer persecuted

• by 1585, 13,000 immigrants working in the cloth industry in England.