AGRICULTURE.
Of the 40 hides attributed in
the Domesday Survey to the manor of Westbury
17 were said to be in demesne, leaving, after the
deduction of the 4½ hides held by William Scudet,
18½ hides for villein farming. (fn. 2) The Geld Roll,
however, attributes 35½ hides to the villeins, inferring that the king had no demesne. (fn. 3) The
Domesday entry records 7 demesne and 40 villein
ploughs. There were 80 a. of meadow, and pasture
3 leagues long by 3 leagues broad. On the demesne
there were 28 serfs and 16 coliberts, and there were
38 villeins and 23 bordars. There were an unspecified number of potters, and 9 bee-keepers. (fn. 4) This
is the only reference in Domesday to bee-keepers
in Wiltshire, and their presence at Westbury may
indicate an exceptionally highly organized manorial
economy. (fn. 5) Westbury was also one of the only four
Wiltshire manors on which swine-herds are
recorded. (fn. 6) There were 29 of these, the large number perhaps to be attributed to the excellent feeding
for pigs provided in the neighbouring woodlands.
In 1086 there was woodland 3 leagues long by
½ league broad attached to the manor, (fn. 7) which lay
in the heart of Selwood Forest, and remained within
the forest until its disafforestation in the 16th
century. (fn. 8) In the 12th century Selwood in Wiltshire
was sometimes known as Westbury Forest. (fn. 9)
The size of the demesne on William Scudet's
estate of 4½ hides in Bratton and Dilton (fn. 10) in 1086
is not known, but attached to it were 4 serfs and 4
ploughs. There were also 20 bordars with 3 ploughs.
There were 20 a. of meadow and 4 of woodland. (fn. 11)
The manor of Westbury was first extended in
1256. (fn. 12) Brook still formed a part of it at this date,
but the other lands which were carved out of the
royal manor after 1086 had come into existence as
separate estates or manors. The manor of Westbury
with Brook then comprised a demesne of 11 carucates (660 a.), 7 a. of meadow, and pasture for an
unspecified number of oxen, cows, and sheep.
There was some park and woodland, as well as the
garden and 3 dovecots. Free tenants paid nearly
69s., and customary tenants £4 in assized rents.
An extent of 1323 distinguishes the estates of Brook
and Headinghill, both of which still formed part
of the manor of Westbury. (fn. 13) At Westbury itself
there were 400 a. of arable, 8 a. of meadow, and
some pasture. There were 14 free tenants, and 21
villeins. At Brook there were 200 a. of arable, 40 a.
of meadow, some pasture, 20 a. of wood, and a
park ('le Park'). There were 11 free tenants, 2 virgaters, and 8 other villeins. Headinghill had the
same amount of arable, 20 a. of meadow, a little,
'grove', and some pasture. A fragmentary account,
probably of approximately the same date, shows
that some at least of the labour services which were
owed by all these tenants in villeinage, were commuted, for in one year money paid in lieu of
services brought in rather over £2. (fn. 14)
Another extent of 24 years later (1347) shows
something of the method of farming the 420 a. of
arable, and 20 a. of meadow which then made up
the manor of Westbury and its members, Brook and
Headinghill. (fn. 15) Every year 280 a. could be sown at
the winter and spring sowings, while 140 a. lay
fallow and in common. Half the cultivated arable
lay on the chalk uplands ('on the hill'), but this was
only worth half as much as the arable lying on the
richer land beneath the downs. Half the meadow
was farmed in severalty, and was twice as valuable
as the other half, which lay in common after mowing.
In addition there were 20 a. of several pasture for
cattle, and a several pasture for sheep on the downs.
There were 100 a. of wood, of which 30 a. were in
severalty, and 10 a. of oakwood, all of which lay
in common. At this date there were 10 customary
tenants on the manor, owing summer works only.
Rents of assize amounted to £20.
On the eve of the division of the manor of Westbury between the heirs of Sir John Pavely in 1361,
the amount of both meadow and pasture farmed in
severalty seems to have increased. (fn. 16) On the
common pasture 12 cattle, 40 oxen, and 400
sheep could be grazed. Rents of both free and
customary tenants amounted to £12. When the
manor of Westbury, by this time excluding Brook,
was divided in 1375 between the heirs of Sir John
St. Lo, the arable lay in 'cultures' called Gavilhucce, Blaklond, Doucefurlong, Smalmedfurlong,
Lyamcombe, and Wrowodelonde. (fn. 17) On the half,
later to become the manor called Westbury Stourton, (fn. 18) there was a grange, haybarn, dairyhouse and
sheep-house. On the other half, later called Westbury Seymour or St. Maur, (fn. 19) there was a grange, an
ox-house, and a 'carterstable'. A fishweir is also
mentioned. At least 11 bond tenants are named.
One tenant paid rent for pasture for 200 sheep.
Such information as has been found for the other
manors within the parish suggests, as is to be
expected, that much the same economy was followed on them all. On the Mauduit manor in
1300 there were 160 a. of arable, 15 a. of meadow,
and a common pasture. (fn. 20) There were 8 free, and
5 customary tenants, and 28 cottars. All customary
tenants owed labour services for part of, or throughout, the year, but there is evidence that by 1321
many of these services had been commuted for
money payments. (fn. 21) At the same date it is apparent
that some of the pasture land belonging to the
manor lay in small inclosed fields. (fn. 22) On Richard
Dauntsey's manor in Bratton and Dilton in 1348
150 a. could be sown every year, while the same
amount lay fallow and in common. Two pastures
were farmed in severalty, one comprising 3 a., the
other with grazing for 300 sheep. A wood of 12 a.
was also cultivated in severalty. (fn. 23) At Bratton, as
on the manor of Westbury, there was some arable
cultivation on the chalk downlands as well as on the
more fertile soil beneath. (fn. 24) In 1364 75 a. lay on the
downs but were sown only every other year
because they lay in common. Beneath the downs
were 29 a. apparently inclosed and farmed in
severalty. There was both common and several
pasture on which 300 sheep could be supported. (fn. 25)
As is shown above, the land of the ancient parish
was divided between numerous manors and estates,
all quite small. (fn. 26) Few of these formed compact holdings, but were made up of lands often widely
scattered over the whole area of the ancient parish.
An early-14th-century terrier, (fn. 27) probably for the
rectory manor, names six fields, or localities, in
which a number of lords had holdings. They were
the south field of Leigh, the field called 'the hill',
the west field, described as being the west part of
the court of the Prior of Steventon, (fn. 28) Smallmead,
the field called 'the Ham', and the east field of
Westbury. Roger Marmium, lord of the manor of
Bremeridge, (fn. 29) held land in five of these places,
Walter Pavely, lord of the manor of Westbury, (fn. 30) in
four, and the Prior of Monkton Farleigh (fn. 31) and the
Precentor of Salisbury (fn. 32) in three.
The manor of Bratton, perhaps because of its
remote position in the south-east corner of the
ancient parish, was a more compact estate. It was
a corn-growing and sheep-rearing manor. In the
17th century its demesne lands comprised, besides
the home close, 151 a. of arable on the downs, 36 a.
of arable in the 'lower fields', sheepsleights for
1,000 sheep in summer, and 600 in winter, and a
common pasture for 16 beasts. (fn. 33) In 1682 the arable
lands were being extended, but at the same time
improvements were being made to the meadowlands so as to offset the loss of common grazing land
to the plough. (fn. 34) Most of the best grazing for sheep
within the ancient parish lay in or near the tithing of
Bratton on the chalk downs south of the village, and
grazing rights were strictly regulated by the custom
of the manor. Certain flocks, including those from
the farms of Westbury Stourton and Westbury
Seymour, were excluded from the common fields of
Bratton in the daytime, and neither beasts nor sheep
were allowed without a keeper on the land newly
re-claimed from the marsh. (fn. 35) Flocks of between
300 and 600 sheep were probably kept on most of
the manors in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the
middle of the 16th century Bratton Grange had
pasture for 700 sheep, (fn. 36) and at about the beginning
of the 18th Jeffery Whitaker had well over 100
sheep-leazes at Bratton. (fn. 37) The need of the various
farmers to cross the land of others when bringing
their flocks from the downs to water, led to the
creation of clearly defined ways or droves. These
sheep-droves, usually called after the respective
farmers or landowners entitled to use them, are a
feature of the inclosure map of 1808. The amount
of time a flock could feed on the richer pasture by
the water was also carefully regulated. (fn. 38)
The land of the ancient parish was divided
roughly equally between the sheep- and cornfarming region of the chalk uplands in the southeast, and the pastoral, dairy-farming region of the
clay vale in the north-west. But less evidence has survived for the agrarian history of the pastoral region.
In the mid-18th century Brook Farm and Lodge
Wood Farm, both in this part of the former parish,
were noted for their cheese, and of their 300-400
acres, much was water-meadow. (fn. 39) Storridge Farm,
when sold in the mid-20th century, had 324 a. of
pasture land and accommodation for over 100
cows. (fn. 40) The spread of the town westwards in the
late 19th and in the 20th centuries has covered some
of this former pasture land with building and one
or two of the large farms in this area were in the
mid-20th century broken up and no longer working
as farms.
The process of inclosure has not been traced in
any detail. At Bratton there seems to have been but
little inclosure of either pasture or arable by the
middle of the 18th century. (fn. 41) At Brook in the lowlying, clayland region both arable and pasture
inclosures were made early in the 17th century
when the park there was disparked, (fn. 42) and much of
the cultivated land in the north-western part of the
parish was already inclosed by the time of the inclosure award of 1808. (fn. 43) That year some 220 a. of
common-land were inclosed. Besides those gaining
considerable consolidated estates as did Abraham
Ludlow, of Heywood House, and John Whitaker,
of Fairwood, there were a notable number of small
men acquiring small parcels of land varying in size
from 2 to 33 perches. Among these were a number
of weavers, almost all living at Dilton Marsh or
Stormore, a woodman, a shoemaker, and a sawyer.
In 1842 some 11,541 a. of land were estimated to
be liable for tithe. Of these, 4,448 a. were returned as
arable, and 6,118 a. as meadow or pasture, including 1,794 a. of downland. There were 261 a. of
orchards and 658 a. of woodland. (fn. 44) The greensand
strip running through the parish from Chapmanslade to Bratton is particularly suitable for market
gardening, and in 1815 fruit and vegetables from
the region were sent regularly to Trowbridge, (fn. 45) as
they still were to a limited extent in 1960. In 1842
there were 40 small orchards in Bratton alone, (fn. 46)
and some still flourished there in 1960.
While in the earlier 19th century the inhabitants
of Chapmanslade, Dilton Marsh, and Westbury
Leigh were chiefly occupied with the textile industry, (fn. 47) those of Bratton were almost entirely
employed in agriculture. In 1831 200 out of 300
families there were occupied in farming. (fn. 48) Flocks
of 1,000 sheep and more were still maintained on
the downs by farmers who also grew corn on a large
scale. (fn. 49) But in the second half of the century this
type of farming was declining everywhere and in
Bratton the acquisition of much of the downland
by the War Department ensured its virtual disappearance in the 20th century. In this century the dairy
farming of the north-west pastoral region is the
principal type of farming within the area of the
former ancient parish.