ECONOMIC HISTORY.
In 1267 the demesne of
Randwick manor included c. 110 a. of arable, 7½ a.
of meadow, and pasture in the woods and pastures
for 24 animals, 40 pigs, and 30 sheep. Other demesne,
perhaps half as much again, was held in dower by
the widow of Walter of Bayeux. There were 4 free
tenants on the manor: one had ½ yardland, another
had ¼ yardland for which he owed a pair of spurs,
and the others held 6 a. and 1 a.; all owed heriots.
Four customary tenants held for one or two lives
and owed rents and one bedrip and a day's mowing;
two held a fardel, one ½ yardland, and another 4 a.
There was also one tenant at will who owed a
bedrip. (fn. 94)
Some of the land in the parish was held by the
tenants of Standish manor in Oxlinch: in the late
16th century ½ yardland was the usual size of holding.
There were then 12 copyholders, and a mondayland
was mentioned. (fn. 95) In 1682 only a reversion was held
by copyhold of Standish manor, when there were
10 leaseholders and one free tenant; all the leaseholders owed cash heriots. (fn. 96)
Most of the open-field arable of Randwick lay in
fields shared with other parishes. Odmarlow field,
Wadding field, Stony field, and Linch field, mentioned in the 16th century, all lay near Oxlinch and
were shared with Standish tenants; (fn. 97) Randwick
Ridge, Foxmoor, Kingley, and Pidgemore fields in
the south of the parish were shared with Stonehouse
tenants. (fn. 98) Ruscombe Ridge lying close to Randwick
village on the east was shared with Ruscombe (in
Stroud parish). (fn. 99) Moor field, west of Roadway
Farm, (fn. 1) the only field mentioned in the extent of
1267 when the demesne had 15½ a. there, (fn. 2) and
Blakemore field mentioned in 1776 (fn. 3) , were perhaps
peculiar to Randwick. In 1267 the demesne land
lay in over 30 individually named places: three were
called furlongs, and several, such as Edmundesleye,
Chelewoldesleye, Bordesleye, Longeleye, Otrudinge,
and Newerdinge, were presumably assarts taken
from the woodland; some of the arable lay in crofts
at Oxlinch and a small piece at Arlebrook. (fn. 4)
In 1809 most of the arable land lying near Oxlinch
apparently remained uninclosed. There were only a
few acres belonging to Randwick in each field.
Lands were ¼ a. or less. Moorfield with 11 a. had
been converted to pasture and Little Moorfield with
c. 8 a. pasture was perhaps a former part of it. There
was also uninclosed land in Ruscombe Ridge. (fn. 5) In
1820 Stony field and Puck Pits, another small field
in the Oxlinch area, were said to have been lately
inclosed, (fn. 6) but in 1841 there was still uninclosed land
in Stony field, and also in Odmarlow, Linch, and
Wadding fields. (fn. 7)
In the early 18th century the parish was said to
consist mainly of woods and pasture. (fn. 8) In 1809 there
were 165 a. of arable and 425 a. of pasture and
wood, (fn. 9) and the proportions were the same in 1841. (fn. 10)
In 1901 when all the arable land near Oxlinch had
been transferred to Standish there were 75 a. of
arable in the parish. (fn. 11) In 1809 the manor farm with
c. 80 a. was the only farm based in Randwick village.
There were four farms in the Oxlinch area: the
Kings with c. 60 a. in the parish, Tiledhouse Farm
with c. 50 a., Roadway Farm with c. 35 a., and
another at Bartlett's Green with c. 25 a. (fn. 12)
There was apparently a mill at Oxlinch in the 13th
century when a family surnamed 'of the mill' lived
there. (fn. 13) The mill for which the Dursley churchwardens were paying rent to Standish manor in 1541
was, from later evidence, at Oxlinch. (fn. 14) In 1574 James
Smallwood, a Dursley clothier, conveyed the mill
to William Watkins; (fn. 15) it was perhaps a fulling-mill
at that time and may have been worked in 1608 by
Walter Watkins who was described as a clothworker. (fn. 16) The Watkins family continued to work the
mill until the late 17th century. (fn. 17) It had apparently
ceased working by 1824. (fn. 18) The mill was at a small
stone cottage at the meeting of the streams east of
Tiledhouse Farm (fn. 19) where a mill's existence was
remembered in 1967; (fn. 20) no machinery survived, but
the former position of the shaft for the wheel was
evident in the stonework, and the cottage had a small
loft doorway in its western gable. Another feature
of the cottage is a staircase-turret.
The lack of agricultural land in the parish and
the large population suggests that most of the
inhabitants of Randwick were engaged in the cloth
industry from the 17th century or earlier. Many of
the cloth-workers listed under Oxlinch in 1608
presumably lived in Randwick village; they included
23 weavers, 4 fullers, and a dyer. (fn. 21) Thomas Pill of
Randwick was described in 1650 as a fuller and in
1651 as a clothier. (fn. 22) References to weavers in
Randwick and Oxlinch in the 17th and 18th centuries
were usually to weavers of broad cloth. (fn. 23) Men
described as blue dyers were buried at Randwick in
1709 and 1719, a fine-drawer was mentioned in
1716, (fn. 24) and wool-scribblers in 1753 (fn. 25) and 1780. (fn. 26)
In 1779 the inhabitants of the parish were said to
be chiefly employed in the woollen industry, (fn. 27) and
in 1831 105 families were supported by trade
compared with 32 by agriculture. (fn. 28) Distress among
the cottage weavers of Randwick was severe in the
early 19th century; in 1839 their average earnings
were among the lowest of the clothing parishes. (fn. 29) In
the late 19th century many of the villagers were
employed in the local mills. (fn. 30) Several clothiers lived
in the parish in the 18th century, including members
of the families of lies (fn. 31) and Harmer. (fn. 32)
The smith's spring at Oxlinch was mentioned in
1294, (fn. 33) and a carpenter was living there c. 1470. (fn. 34) A
tailor of Randwick was mentioned in 1597. (fn. 35) In 1608
the craftsmen listed under Oxlinch, who evidently
included the men of Randwick and part of Standish,
were 7 carpenters, 5 tailors, 3 masons, 2 smiths, 2
slaters, and a cutler. (fn. 36) Carpenters were later, other
than weavers, the craftsmen most regularly mentioned at Randwick and Oxlinch, (fn. 37) and perhaps their
preponderance was connected with the ready supply
of timber in the area as well as with the maintenance
of the many weavers' looms. There was a village
carpenter until c. 1930. (fn. 38) A saddler was mentioned
in 1791 (fn. 39) and a shoemaker in 1832; (fn. 40) in the later
19th century there were usually two shoemakers at
Randwick. (fn. 41) Masons were mentioned in 1736 (fn. 42) and
1837. (fn. 43) There were limekilns at the quarries to the
west of Randwick village in the 19th century, (fn. 44) and
a lime-burner and lime-merchant were mentioned
in 1879. (fn. 45) In 1967 most of the inhabitants of Randwick village worked in the factories in Stroud and
the locality. (fn. 46)