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Farms and Fields
We
can gain an insight of the lives of local people by looking at
the inventories of property which were drawn up when a person
died.
John
Bull the Elder of Pendeford, a mason, left property to the value
of £89/3s/8d. The
following inventory was drawn up in July, 1660.
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butter and cheese
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hemp and flax
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7 strykes of rye growing
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12 strykes of barley growing
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7 strykes of peas growing
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8 strykes of oats growing
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8 strykes of oats and barley
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2 oxen
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5 kine
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2 twinters, 8 yearlings and 4 weaning calves
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a horse
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35 old sheep and 24 lambs
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2 hogs and 2 shuttes
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2 old pairs of wheels, 2 old tumbrils and an old wain
and yokes, chains, harrows etc.
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geese, ducks and hens.
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Other inventories of the period reflect the agricultural nature
of Pendeford at the time.
Dude
or Dodecroftes field near the Penk was mentioned around 1275.
Open fields called Middle and Nether were mentioned in
1565 and 1595 when Walter Fowlar (sic) bought some land from
Thomas Huntbache, a wool merchant. In the early Middle Ages,
Open Fields would have been worked on a communal basis by the
local inhabitants.
These large fields, used for crops, were divided into strips or
selions, long and narrow pieces of land which were not
physically split up by fences or hedges.
One farmer's land holdings might be separated into
selions spread out over a couple of large open fields.
Netherfield still existed in 1657 although part of it had
been enclosed by then. Enclosure allowed a farmer to have all his land together
which led to better farming practice and more profits.
Cattle were an important part of the farming scene during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
In 1662, John Cresswell of Barnhurst had 18 cows, a bull,
6 heifers, 9 young beeves and 8 calves which together were worth £119 4s., as well as 8
oxen valued at £48.
The main breed of cattle were longhorns.
Sheep farming was also of importance and the same
John Cresswell had a large flock of 90, valued at £15.
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