ECONOMIC HISTORY

Agriculture

Open Fields and Commons

Until inclosure in 1839 Clanfield's open fields lay west and east of the village, covering over half the parish in the early 19th century (Fig. 43) and probably more in the Middle Ages. (fn. 1) West and East fields, the former possibly containing some of the earliest open-field land, (fn. 2) were mentioned in the 13th century, when there may have been a two-course rotation; (fn. 3) Tarney ('thorn-bush island') in West field's southern part was mentioned as a separate field about 1235, (fn. 4) and by the 16th century all the arable had been subdivided into West (236 a.), Mill (269 a.), and Tarney fields (148 a.) on the west, and Barrow (350 a.) and Linton fields (60 a.) on the east. (fn. 5) The 13th-century furlong-name Garston (in East field) may indicate intake from grassland, and some 13th-century holdings included small amounts of uncultivated land (de frisco) which had perhaps only recently been cleared. (fn. 6) Before the late 17th century Barrow field was divided into a northern part cropped with Linton field, and a southern part which was cropped with Tarney field and with the tiny Billings field: the latter was a narrow 4-a. strip of arable between old inclosures at Little Clanfield, which had probably belonged to the medieval Tarney or West fields. West and Mill fields probably then formed separate quarters for cropping. (fn. 7)

Common meadow, estimated in 1086 at 100 a., (fn. 8) lay chiefly in the south by the Thames, and in the 13th century and later was divided into the Moor (33 a.) south of Friars Court, Fore meadow (72 a.) further east, and the Island (ieg, later corrupted to Rye) (54 a.) between Rye brook and the Thames. (fn. 9) The Moor seems to have been reduced during the later Middle Ages, when Wymonds closes (10 a.) were taken from its western part perhaps by a prominent freeholder. (fn. 10) Another 60 a. of common meadow may have lain further west in Langley, inclosed before 1608 and divided among some but not all owners in closes of up to 8 a., (fn. 11) while in the 17th century and probably earlier some freeholders owned additional meadow in the extraparochial Burroway by the Thames. (fn. 12) A demesne meadow called Inmead, probably on the western boundary near Little Clanfield mill, was let to tenants in parcels in the early 13th century, (fn. 13) and in the 1230s there were small amounts of meadow, perhaps inclosed, at Edgerly in the north-west, and at Over and Green Benney, the latter perhaps already an isolated grassy inclosure in West field. (fn. 14) Lots in Clanfield's common meadows were mentioned in the 13th century and still in the 19th, (fn. 15) but by around 1700 some lots seem to have been fixed, and then as later there may have been some larger, privately owned plots of 5–10 acres. (fn. 16) Smaller privately owned hams were mentioned from the Middle Ages. (fn. 17) The meadows' value was diminished by frequent flooding, one day's rain reportedly leaving them under water in the early 19th century. (fn. 18)

43. Clanfield parish before inclosure in 1839, showing approximate location of open fields

Pasture 6 furlongs square was noted in 1086, (fn. 19) though much of it was inclosed early. The Marsh, a common of some 160 a. along Clanfield's eastern edge, was divided among a number of tenants and owners in parcels of up to 16 a. apparently in the earlier 17th century, perhaps at the same time as an adjoining common in Bampton. (fn. 20) Other grounds inclosed before 1700, taken probably from former common pasture or meadow, included Edgerly grounds (around 47 a.) in the north-west, demesne closes along the parish's northern edge (adjoining commons in Alvescot and Black Bourton), and small closes called the Moors by the western boundary. (fn. 21) Irregular closes immediately north of Clanfield village may indicate another small common inclosed during the Middle Ages, (fn. 22) while late medieval demesne closes around Friars Court included the 8-a. Cow leaze; those closes' locations suggest that most came from the arable, however, and certainly Cow leaze was enlarged before 1700 by a further intake from Barrow field. (fn. 23) Heath and furze estimated at 100 a., attached to a Clanfield manor in the 16th century, (fn. 24) was perhaps partly in Alvescot, where Clanfield inhabitants retained furzecutting rights until Alvescot's inclosure in 1796. (fn. 25)

By the early 19th century private closes, most of them under grass, covered some 37 per cent of the parish. (fn. 26) Commons were by then restricted to grazing in the fields after harvest and to Lammas rights in the meadows, though inhabitants retained additional rights in Nippenham in Black Bourton parish, and in Burroway and Sharney meadows by the Thames. (fn. 27) As earlier, some farmers probably owned additional pasture in neighbouring parishes. (fn. 28) Surviving common rights were worth little because of Clanfield's low, wet land: in dry weather cow commons let for 4s. 6d., but sheep commons for 4d. only. (fn. 29)

Tenanted yardlands on Southwick priory's manor in the early 13th century were large, containing probably 36½ a. of arable and 6½ a. of meadow; (fn. 30) they were thus comparable with demesne yardlands on the Hospitallers' manor. (fn. 31) Recorded yardlands in the 16th century and later varied greatly, containing between 15 a. and 40 a. of arable. (fn. 32) The proportion of meadow was sometimes smaller, though many tenants held additional small parcels for rent, (fn. 33) and from the 17th century a few occupiers enjoyed inclosed meadow or pasture chiefly in Langley and Marsh closes. (fn. 34) The pasture allowance for 1¾ yardlands on Friars Court manor in 1552 was 50 sheep, 6 oxen, 12 cattle (averia), and 12 horses (including 6 geldings), (fn. 35) but following the commons' inclosure allowances were much lower, apparently 4 cows and 12 sheep or fewer to a yardland in the early 19th century. (fn. 36)

Woodland Woodland was confined to closes and was usually excluded from leases, though timber was allowed for repairs. (fn. 37) The lessee of the Friars Court demesne sold 28 cartloads of ash and elm in 1441–2, and 200 pollard elms and ashes on the same demesne were noted in the 1540s, half of them reserved for the lessee's use for building repair, fencing and fuel. (fn. 38) By the 18th century woodland on the manor had fallen from an estimated 20 a. to 5 or 7 a., (fn. 39) while in the 16th century Southwick and Chestlion manors included only 2–6 a. each. (fn. 40) Isolated ashes and oaks were occasionally mentioned later, (fn. 41) and closes attached to Little Clanfield mill in 1769 included elm, ash, and willow, (fn. 42) but throughout the 19th and 20th centuries there were only a few acres of woodland in closes and small coppices. (fn. 43) Two Clanfield labourers were prosecuted for stealing hedgewood in 1772. (fn. 44)

Medieval Tenant Farming

In 1086 tenants on the 6¾-hide manor of Clanfield numbered 14 villani, 13 lower-status bordars, and 4 slaves, while some other Clanfield inhabitants were probably still tenants of the royal manor of Bampton. Clanfield manor was fully stocked with 11 ploughteams, four of them on a large 4-hide demesne and the rest held by tenants, and the estate was valued at £7 as in 1066. (fn. 45) Before 1279 there seems to have been extreme fragmentation of unfree tenant holdings, to a degree unusual in this part of Oxfordshire: 6 villeins then held half yardlands (all but one of them of Southwick priory) and two shared a half yardland, but of 34 other customary tenants (cottagers, serfs, and villeins), none held more than 6 a., while another 27 held 4 a. or less. Ten held cottages apparently without land, and over all some 42 unfree tenants held between them only 84 a. and 3½ yardlands. (fn. 46) A few other small customary holdings were held of Osney abbey and Exeter cathedral, and a further 37 a. of cottar land was let with eight dwellings apparently to freeholders. (fn. 47)

By contrast, up to 24 yardlands and 98 a. were occupied by freeholders in 1279, perhaps following a distribution of free land in hide units at an unknown date: in the 13th century land still attached to Bampton manor allegedly comprised 3 hides named after local freeholding families, while 5 hides attached to the honor of St Valery included Frayn's and Richman's hides. Only on the Hospitallers' and Southwick priory's small manors did customary holdings outnumber freeholds. By the early 13th century the freeholds were apparently becoming fragmented, and in 1279 around 29 tenants each held between 3 a. and 1½ hides. Often they held under more than one owner, and there was complex subletting. (fn. 48) The largest freeholders, such as Robert d'Oilly and Geoffrey of Bourton, were non-resident, (fn. 49) though several with ½ yardland or more lived probably in Clanfield. Notwithstanding the preponderance of freeholders, Clanfield's taxable wealth in the early 14th century nevertheless remained fairly typical of the area, with average moveable wealth per head (excluding two large demesnes) totalling 51s. in 1316 and 42s. in 1327, and individual tenants' wealth in 1327 ranging from under 12s. to around £8. One of the poorer taxpayers, assessed on 15s., apparently held a cottage and 4 a., but there was little obvious correlation between taxable wealth and the holdings recorded in 1279. (fn. 50)

Rents for both free and customary holdings in 1279 varied considerably, exceptions being the 7s. 7½d. owed by each half-yardlander on Southwick priory's manor, 22¾d. owed by cottagers holding 6 a. under a free tenant of Bampton manor, and tallage at the rate of 13d. a yardland paid (with varying rents) by free tenants of Bampton manor. Southwick priory's rents had been increased from 6s. 8d. since around 1230, when half-yardlanders also owed aid, heriot, leyrwite, and 1d. entry fines. Freeholders of the Chastillons' manor in 1279 owed scutage, and two tenants owed payments in wax or cumin. All the customary rents were described in money only, though tenants of the Chastillons' and Hospitallers' manors presumably owed services on the demesnes, and a cottager in 1321 owed Osney abbey 2 bedrips without food (presumably on the abbey's demesne in Black Bourton), besides 3s. rent and a 12d. entry fine. (fn. 51)

Fourteenth-century depopulation seems to have been relatively limited, (fn. 52) though in 1428 two holdings on the Hospitallers' manor lacked tenants, (fn. 53) and in 1430 a cottage was let with an adjacent house-plot and close for 3s. 6d., suggesting vacancies and rent reductions. (fn. 54) Manorial buildings were derelict in the 1440s, the lessee having apparently fled leaving heriot on another holding unpaid. (fn. 55) Several tenants were fined for failure to maintain houses, and in the late 15th century some villein tenants of Southwick priory's manor were reported to the manor court for living in other parishes. (fn. 56) Despite such signs of difficulties for landlords, rent for an Exeter cathedral copyhold in 1421 nevertheless remained unaltered from 1317, (fn. 57) and on Southwick priory's manor customary rents around 1540 were the same as in 1279. (fn. 58) Most of the Hospitallers' tenants in the 1490s reportedly held at will for rent, suit, and heriot, though copyholds continued to be granted later. (fn. 59)

Customary holdings of up to 1¾ yardlands, reflecting small-scale consolidation, were recorded from the early 16th century, (fn. 60) many of them possibly occupied with freeholds, of which some totalled 3 yardlands or more by the 16th century. (fn. 61) Possibly such intermixture of free and customary holdings lay behind claims in 1410 that a Clanfield freeholder was a neif of Burford manor, (fn. 62) which included land in Clanfield apparently by the early 14th century. (fn. 63)

Medieval Demesne Farming

Demesne land belonging to Clanfield manor, but lying apparently in Alvescot, was mentioned in the early 13th century. (fn. 64) Richard Chastillon had a ploughland (perhaps 140 a.) in demesne in 1279, and the Hospitallers a hide and 4 a., apparently in addition to 2 or more yardlands held of Bampton manor: in all, their demesne presumably exceeded 200 a. as later. Both Robert d'Oilly and Geoffrey of Bourton had freehold land possibly in demesne, while the lord of Bampton seems also to have had a small demesne farm in Clanfield in 1327. (fn. 65) Southwick priory's land seems all to have been tenanted in 1279, though the priory was granted free warren in Clanfield in 1320. (fn. 66)

The Hospitallers' demesne, taxed in 1316 on moveables worth nearly £38, (fn. 67) comprised in 1338 some 220 a. of arable valued at 6d. or 12d. an acre, presumably in the common fields, together with 30 a. of meadow. The preceptory was also the administrative centre for estates at Weald, Gosford, Hensington, and Sutton (in Bampton, Kidlington, and Stanton Harcourt). (fn. 68) By the 1390s several customary tenants held small amounts of demesne arable or meadow for money rent, (fn. 69) and from probably the 1420s or 1430s, when Clanfield preceptory was taken over by that at Quenington (Glos.), the whole demesne was let with the house to a single lessee. Leases in the late 15th century and early 16th, when the demesne (still reckoned at 6 yardlands) was largely inclosed, were usually for three or four lives, at 66s. 8d. a year with the obligation to maintain buildings, hedges, and closes, for which underwood was allowed. (fn. 70) Agricultural buildings in the 1440s included a sheephouse, pig house, and barns. (fn. 71)

The Chastillon demesne, taxed in 1316 on moveables worth £12 and in 1327 on £8, (fn. 72) may have been increased in the late 13th century or early 14th, since in the 17th century the manorial farm totalled 6 yardlands. (fn. 73) The demesne was let presumably during the later Middle Ages, and certainly in the mid 16th century. (fn. 74)

The 16th Century to Parliamentary Inclosure

Thirty inhabitants were taxed in 1544, 9 in 1577, and 18 c. 1599, many of them on goods rather than land. (fn. 75) Among the wealthiest were the Arnolds, (fn. 76) a freeholding family of whom one was taxed in 1544 on goods worth £20. Other leading taxpayers included some copyholders, (fn. 77) together with lessees of the demesne farms and of the rectory estate: Richard Clarke, lessee of Friars Court, was taxed on £12 in 1544, and Robert Dawes (d. 1576), lessee of Chestlion Farm, on £6 in 1558–9. (fn. 78) In the late 16th century the wealthiest included lords of all three manors, who then, as in the earlier 17th century, may have exploited some of the demesnes directly: in 1637 the owner of Chestlion manor and farm (Martha Smith) had 145 a. under crop. (fn. 79)

Prosperous yeoman families were recorded throughout the 17th century and early 18th, many, such as the Sperrinks, Faulkners, Turners, and Stevenses, leaving goods worth over £100. Richard Yeatman, exceptionally, left over £500 in 1686, including a £90 lease and £300 owed him. (fn. 80) Several such families were taxed in 1662 on above the parish average of three hearths, and members of the Sperrink and Adams families, together with the owners of Southwick and Chestlion manors, were among a fifth taxed on five hearths or more, suggesting substantial houses. By contrast 10 inhabitants (just under a quarter) paid on one hearth only, and in 1665 two were exonerated through poverty, (fn. 81) while a labourer in 1613 left goods worth only £5. (fn. 82)

Lifehold leases at customary rents continued on Friars Court manor in the early 17th century, (fn. 83) but during the 17th century and early 18th fragmentation of all three manors, through enfranchisement and sale, (fn. 84) seems to have increased the number of freeholds: by around 1700 some 33 freeholders occupied holdings ranging from a few acres to over 70 a., some of the land certainly detached from the manors. Only 4 or 5 holdings, each of ¼ yardland or so, seem by then to have been held of Friars Court and Southwick manors, and none of Chastillon manor; (fn. 85) of those, most were apparently held on short leases rather than by copy. (fn. 86) A 100-year lease of a small Southwick manor farm continued in 1772, (fn. 87) but by the early 19th century the only remnant of the manorial structure was the former demesne farms leased with the manor houses, (fn. 88) and quitrents totalling 21s. 8d. paid by 12 freeholders to the owners of Friars Court for lands inside and outside the parish. (fn. 89) Only Exeter cathedral's and one of Christ Church's small tenements remained copyhold until the 19th century, owing small customary rents, heriot, and large entry fines; (fn. 90) a farm of 3¾ yardlands attached to Bampton manor was let at will for close to rack rent and for large entry fines in the mid 17th century, when a longstanding tenant declined to renew the lease even with a rent abatement, (fn. 91) and all or part of the rectory estate was let at rack rent by 1717. (fn. 92)

By the later 18th century and probably earlier, 6 or 7 dominant farmers each paid land tax of £15–£30 for farms totalling probably 100–300 a., most of them amalgamations of freehold and of leasehold rented from several owners. Among the largest was the Clark family's amalgamation which included Friars Court farm (122 a.), while Chestlion farm, owing £24 land tax, totalled 260 acres. (fn. 93) Over all around 35 occupiers paid land tax, though over half of them owed 20s. or less, presumably for cottages and a few acres; of those, between a third and a half were freeholders. (fn. 94) The landholding structure had changed little by the 1830s, when five farms totalled between 100 a. and 400 a., with a third of occupiers holding only a cottage or house with little or no land. (fn. 95) Some farmers may have been in difficulty by 1815, when a non-resident Christ Church lessee, questioning her large entry fine, asserted that her subtenant would leave if his rent was not reduced. (fn. 96)

Farming remained mixed as throughout the Middle Ages. In 1580 there may have been a three-course rotation of wheat, barley, and fallow, (fn. 97) and by 1715 there was a four-course rotation of (1) wheat, (2) beans or pulses, (3) barley, and (4) fallow, which continued until inclosure. (fn. 98) Medieval field and furlong names suggest that flax, madder, and beans were grown, (fn. 99) and wheat, barley, pulses, and maslin were mentioned frequently in the 16th century and later, some barley being malted. A few 17th and 18th-century farmers grew small quantities of hemp, and one in 1629 left three linen wheels. (fn. 100) Turnips, barley, and wheat were grown in closes in the early 19th century. (fn. 101) Sheep and pigs were evidently kept on Friars Court farm in the 15th and 16th centuries, (fn. 102) and a few flocks of 50 or more were noted from the late 16th century to the 18th, though flocks of 150 in 1668 and 157 in 1755 were exceptional. (fn. 103) Dairy and dry herds were also mentioned, and there was some cheesemaking. (fn. 104) John Yeatman (d. 1721), whose husbandry was typical of wealthier farmers, left wheat, barley, vetches, and beans worth £155, hay worth £40, 64 sheep and lambs, 9 cattle, and 9 pigs, besides cheese worth £3, wool, and fruit. (fn. 105) Several inhabitants owned bees or poultry or left bacon, and a few supplemented their diet by occasional (and probably illegal) fishing. (fn. 106)

Parliamentary Inclosure and Later

Inclosure, apparently contemplated in 1777 and perhaps in 1825, (fn. 107) was eventually carried out in 1838–9 under a general Act of 1836; until then, over 60 per cent of the parish was still subject to open-field husbandry. Awards were made to around 68 owners and to over 83 occupiers, of whom 85 per cent (a third of them freeholders) received 20 a. or less for commons or small amounts of land. Among leading farmers, Henry Collett received 405 a. as lessee and freeholder, William Newman of Friars Court Farm 340 a., mostly for freehold land, and Thomas Clinch 267 a. as lessee of Chestlion farm, partly awarded in old inclosures. Two other farmers each received over 100 a. as freeholders and lessees, (fn. 108) and consolidation of some formerly scattered holdings was favourably commented on in 1844. (fn. 109) The chief farms continued to be run from existing homesteads, mostly in the village: (fn. 110) Friars Court and Chestlion farms remained the largest in 1861, and in 1881 Henry Newman of Friars Court farmed 900 a., the largest farm by far, employing 28 adults and 6 boys. (fn. 111) Throughout that period there remained a number of smaller farms under 100 a. and a few smallholders with 10 a. or less, but some small farms were absorbed into larger estates, and most of the population (48 per cent of householders in 1861) were by then landless agricultural labourers. (fn. 112)

Farming remained mixed, with an emphasis on crops: two thirds of the parish was arable in 1877, (fn. 113) and Chestlion farm, chiefly in the north, remained up to three quarters arable in the 1880s. (fn. 114) Soils, chiefly freeworking loams on gravelly subsoils, were generally considered excellent and supported good root and corn crops, notwithstanding burning in drier seasons; (fn. 115) stock land was 'first class' particularly for sheep, and the Thames-side meadows were 'first rate', presumably reflecting drainage improvements. (fn. 116) Cattle and pigs were also raised: William Newman of Friars Court was a farmer and bacon factor in the 1850s, while Chestlion farm had poultry, 61 shorthorn cattle, and 36 Berkshire pigs in 1885. A smallholder at Little Clanfield specialised in pig farming in the later 19th century. (fn. 117)

Henry Newman sold up in 1886, a victim of agricultural depression, (fn. 118) and difficulties were further reflected in the departure from the parish of significant numbers of labourers. (fn. 119) Agriculture remained depressed in 1903 when John Reason, a long-standing tenant of Chestlion Farm, fell into debt despite a 17 per cent rent reduction since 1886: even with further reductions the farm's large proportion of arable made it difficut to let, and problems were compounded by a bad harvest. (fn. 120) The parish nevertheless remained 49 per cent arable in 1914, when the chief crops were wheat and barley (25 per cent each), swedes and turnips (15 per cent), oats (8 per cent), mangolds (5 per cent), and a few potatoes. Cattle, sheep, and pigs were raised in average or above average numbers for the area, and sheep farming, unusually, had increased since 1909: (fn. 121) in 1917 livestock on Northcourt farm included 280 Oxford Down sheep, besides 126 shorthorn cattle and 430 poultry and pedigree ducks, for which the owner (Ernest White) was noted. (fn. 122)

Mixed farming with an increased pastoral bias continued in 1941, when Chestlion (520 a.), Northcourt (445 a.), Friars Court (212 a.), and Manor farms (146 a.) were each 35–40 per cent arable. The chief crops were still barley, wheat, and oats, together with root crops. All the farms had dairy herds, some milk being transported to London by rail from Alvescot station, with the rest sold locally or turned into butter. Friars Court and particularly Chestlion farms had sizable sheep flocks, and several farms raised poultry, though there were few pigs; R.N. Willmer of Friars Court was also a hay and corn dealer and a wool stapler. There were still several smaller farms of under 150 a., besides a number of smallholders raising poultry and other livestock. Most farms were well managed, though farming was only just becoming more mechanized, with horses still used extensively and only one or two tractors in the village. (fn. 123) By the 1980s there were three chief farms of some 500 a. and three cattle herds, but no sheep or commercial poultry. (fn. 124)

Trade and Industry

Occupational surnames in the 13th and 14th centuries, probably hereditary, included Tailor, Weaver (Tixtor), and Webber, (fn. 125) suggesting small-scale involvement in the local cloth industry. A skinner was mentioned in 1330. (fn. 126) The usual rural tradesmen were recorded during the 17th and 18th centuries, including carpenters, wheelwrights, and tailors, with a few blacksmiths, bakers, butchers, and shoemakers or cordwainers. (fn. 127) A few masons, mostly from the local Farmer family, were recorded from the early 18th century, (fn. 128) a weaver in 1702, a collarmaker and a bodice-maker in 1714, (fn. 129) chandlers possibly in 1703 and in 1742, (fn. 130) and maltsters before 1780 and in 1817. (fn. 131) Several tradesmen farmed and left chiefly agricultural produce, while a tanner in 1777, exceptionally, had a 60-a. farm. (fn. 132) Wealthier craftsmen included a carpenter owed £138 in 1671, and a blacksmith with £82 in cash in 1684, (fn. 133) but most were far less prosperous.

In 1821 there were said to be 29 families out of 120 employed in trade, craft, or manufacture, (fn. 134) and in 1861, besides the common rural trades, there were 3 sawyers, a hawker, an engine driver, and a few women working as laundresses or dressmakers. Of three grocers one was also a carpenter and another was a draper, and in all tradespeople represented some 16 per cent of householders. (fn. 135) A glover was mentioned in 1841, coal merchants from the 1840s to 1860s, and a collarmaker from the 1870s to 1920s, and some publicans were butchers, coal dealers, or hauliers. (fn. 136) Agricultural implement makers became established from the 1840s. (fn. 137)

In 1939 there were a builder and joiner (one of the long-established Farmer family), a blacksmith, and a boot repairer, besides two grocer's shops, a draper's, and a dressmaker. A cycle agent was mentioned in 1907, and a motor repair garage opened in 1921. (fn. 138) A small woodworking and furniture-making firm, established in the Old Bakery in 1963, employed half a dozen local people in 1971, but in the 1980s moved elsewhere. A long-established blacksmith's continued in the late 1970s as a general agricultural repair service which also undertook wrought-iron work. By then, however, most inhabitants were commuters, working in Oxford, Witney, or Swindon. (fn. 139)

L. R. Knapp & Co

The firm of L. R. Knapp & Co., agricultural implement makers, was formally established by Leonard Randolph Knapp apparently in the 1880s, when he employed around 3 men. (fn. 140) Claims that the firm's origins may be traced to 1745 appear unfounded, as do suggested links with waggon-building or implement manufacture in Faringdon (then Berks.); (fn. 141) family members were, however, machine and agricultural implement makers by the 1840s, one of them at the later works site near the junction of the Faringdon and Bampton roads, (fn. 142) and L.R. Knapp was in business by 1869. (fn. 143) From the late 19th century the firm specialized in seed drills and, later, in combined seed and fertilizer drills; horse-hoes, skimploughs, hay-sweeps, and portable pumps were made also, one design winning a Royal Agricultural Society prize. A combined chaff-cutter, corn-crusher, and elevator was introduced in 1894, and a hay-loader was especially popular in the 1930s.

A smithy on the works site by 1876 was succeeded by a small foundry, later called Thames Valley Ironworks, before 1890, when the firm's 'praiseworthy strides' in 'moving with the times' attracted favourable comment. The foundry closed around 1960 after small-scale cast-iron production became uneconomical, and the firm increasingly turned to erection of structural steelwork, at first with considerable success, as well as introducing new materials such as fibreglass. Agricultural equipment was still produced in the mid 1960s, when some older types were exported to technologicallybackward countries, though drill frames were by then manufactured elsewhere for assembly at Clanfield. The workforce fell from around 40 in 1962 to around 15 by 1965, and production ceased before 1968 when the business was auctioned; by then the Knapp family had had no connection with the firm for some years. (fn. 144) In the late 1990s the premises were occupied by a firm selling tractors and other farm machinery, established there before 1977 when it employed 29 people. (fn. 145)

The Clanfield Milling and Straw Rope Company

44. Little Clanfield Mill in the early 20th century

The Clanfield Milling and Straw Rope Company was established at Little Clanfield mill in 1925, producing straw rope for bottle and pipe coverings, and for use in packaging and foundries. Machines were driven at first by the mill wheel, but later by electricity. In 1965 there were 20 machines, each operated by two women and together producing some 70,000 yds a day; straw was brought from Devon, Somerset, and East Anglia, since not enough was available locally. The business closed in the mid 1970s, chiefly through competition from plastics and other materials, (fn. 146) and in 1998 the mill and neighbouring workshops were occupied by small engineering and similar firms. (fn. 147)

Mills and Fisheries

Little Clanfield Mill

Clanfield (later Chestlion) manor included a corn mill probably in 1200 and certainly in 1210, when the lord vindicated his claim to it against a freeholder. (fn. 148) James le Savage, lord of part of the same manor, was accused in 1247 of erecting a new mill which allegedly damaged a tenant's holding, (fn. 149) and there were two mills in the 1270s. (fn. 150) One stood presumably on the site of Little Clanfield mill, which was possibly the 'Cotmormylle' mentioned in 1318. (fn. 151) Both mills were freeholds owing hidage and scutage, one let with 4 a. for 42s., and the other for 20s. (fn. 152)

By the early 16th century, when a miller was fined for exacting excessive tolls, the manor included Little Clanfield mill only, (fn. 153) which seems to have been sold around 1595–6. (fn. 154) Later owners included probably Henry Rathbone and Thomas White, (fn. 155) from the 1640s or earlier to the late 19th century members of the Blagrove family, many of whom were resident millers, and from 1879 to 1954 the Ecclesiastical (later Church) Commissioners. (fn. 156) A tenant secured repairs in 1769, when mill buildings were allegedly near collapse. (fn. 157) In 1879 the mill drove two pairs of stones, increased to three by 1895 when steam was introduced to supplement inadequate water power during dry periods. During the early 20th century trade diminished, and in 1925 the mill was refitted as a straw-rope factory. (fn. 158)

Until 19th-century rebuilding the mill and mill house, both thatched, formed a T-plan. The mill was single-storeyed, while the abutting house, at its northern end, was single-storeyed with an attic, and had a stack at its east end. (fn. 159) Part of that house survives as the rear (west) wing of the present building, and is apparently 17th-century; its single room retains heavy beams and joists, a stair hatch, and a collar-truss roof. In 1876 (fn. 160) the house's eastern end was demolished and its central part replaced by a new two-storeyed block, built in one range with a new three-storeyed mill (Fig. 44). Both house and mill are of three bays, and both are fronted in rock-faced limestone. The mill retains a timber internal structure, much altered in the late 20th century; its cast-iron breast-shot waterwheel, at the building's southern end, is probably contemporary, but no machinery remains. (fn. 161)

Windmill

A tall, stone-built windmill for corn grinding was erected behind Windmill House (formerly Windmill Farm) before 1854, when the farm's name was first recorded. In 1878 it drove 2 pairs of stones, but by 1901 it was used for storage, and in 1907 only the tower remained, attached to a range of farm buildings (Fig. 45). It was demolished after 1913. (fn. 162)

Fisheries and Weirs

No fisheries or weirs were mentioned in 1279, (fn. 163) though Friars Court manor included fishing rights in a milelong stretch of the Thames and in some of its tributaries apparently in the 16th century; in the 19th century they were let with Friars Court farm. (fn. 164) Chestlion manor and farm included fishpools in a private close in 1704, probably adjoining Rye brook and meadow, (fn. 165) and in 1834 the farm was let with fishing rights in the Thames. (fn. 166)

A predecessor of Clark's or Harper's weir (Fig. 37), at the confluence of the Thames and Burroway brook, existed by the 13th century, when it may already have been freehold. (fn. 167) Its later name derived from 18th and 19th-century tenants, who rented it from non-resident owners. (fn. 168) The weir was repaired in 1811, but by 1867 it was evidently impassable, and in 1868 it was removed and the waterway widened. (fn. 169) The weir house, formerly an inn, was reportedly burned down in 1879, (fn. 170) and in 1891 the site was sold to Christ Church, Oxford, with adjacent fishing rights in the Thames and its tributaries. (fn. 171) A new weir and lock (called Radcot lock) a little to the west, mostly south of the Thames's main stream and therefore outside Clanfield parish, were opened in 1892. (fn. 172)

45. Disused windmill at Windmill Farm, 1907

A Clanfield farmer in 1619 owned a boat and pitch net, (fn. 173) and in 1738 the vicar complained of inhabitants fowling and fishing on Sundays instead of attending church. (fn. 174) A fisherman related to the lessee of Harper's weir was noted in Clanfield in the 1850s and 1860s. (fn. 175)

Footnotes