This study examines 16 adjacent parishes in the
Somerset Levels which illustrate important aspects of
agrarian history in the early modern period. Land
use in the Levels allowed a type of farming whereby
small farmers could produce a surplus and participate
in progressive, commercial farming, while the manorial
structure and the secure copyhold tenure aided the
tenants and supported the development of a group of
landholders living on rents and other unearned income.
Economic and tenurial independence, plus an absence
of resident gentry, produced a parallel independence
in religious and political thought and action.
The Introduction describes the settlements,
topography, markets, population, the distribution of
wealth, and non-agricultural occupations.
Chapter 2 considers the manorial structure and
landholders, the formation of sub-manors, customary
tenure, the level of fines, forfeiture, manor courts
and the position of manorial lords, and the increasing
use of copyholds as investments.
Land use and husbandry are then described,
including field systems, different types of husbandry
and the farming systems followed.
The incomes of small farmers are calculated;
commercial leasing, sub-letting, and incomes from rent
are considered, together with the role of small farmers
in the economy and in agricultural change.
Chapter 5 discusses the transmission of land and goods through pre-mortem transfer, disposal of free and copyhold land, and disposal of personal property by will. The payment and economic effects of legacies are also considered.
The position of women under both common law and
manorial custom is then treated, showing the
responsibility given to women as their husbands'
successors, financial advantages of marriage, women
In economic and social life, and the economic effects
of widow's right.
Chapter 7 describes the involvement of countrymen
in events of the 17th century, the growth of political
divisions in local society, the end of religious
uniformity, and the generation of deep commitments
which led to armed rebellion under Monmouth.