ECONOMIC HISTORY.
In 1086 the vill
included 72/3 hides, half on the largest manor,
and land for nine ploughteams. Of the six present, at least three were probably on the
demesnes, the others belonging to the seven villani with 19 bordars who occupied the other
land. The reported yield of the manors had
fallen by almost a third since 1066. (fn. 8) By 1279, (fn. 9)
apart from the demesnes, of which those of the
serjeanty and Richmond manors had probably
covered respectively 240 a. and 200 a. before
their division, c. 690 a. of arable were reported.
Freeholdings comprised 430 a. altogether, of
which ten tenants with 10 a. or more occupied
310 a., including William of Leicester's widow
Millicent who had 80 a., virtually a manor,
settled in 1272. (fn. 10) About 30 small freeholders
with under 5 a. each had barely 42 a. The land
held in villeinage, only c. 240 a. in all, consisted
mainly of the twelve half yardlands shared equally between the two serjeanty manors, each
having also 2–3 tenants of 8–10 a. and four crofters with 2 a. each. On those manors, villein
services, presumably defined before their partition c. 1200, were identical and relatively light.
One tenant of c. 10 a. on each, perhaps representing holdings such as that of the single
Domesday servus, owed weekwork, two days in
winter, double in summer. Half yardlanders,
however, had only to plough ½ a. each, hoe the
lord's crops and make his hay, and in harvest
reap 1 a. and send two men to two boonworks.
They might also be required to carry produce
to other serjeanty manors at Ongar and
Maplestead (Essex). (fn. 11) Manners manor and the
Richmond fee had only free tenants.
Some freehold yardlands, singly or combined,
were recorded into the 14th century. (fn. 12) About
1298 a remarried widow claimed as her customary dower from her son and heir, who was newly
of age and demanding a statutory account, half
his 45-a. holding, all but 10 a. held in socage. (fn. 13)
Such freeholds were gradually accumulated into
larger holdings of 50 a. or more, (fn. 14) eventually
from the 16th century absorbed into corporate
estates. (fn. 15) By that time the villein land had
been converted into copyholds; those held of
Dengaines manor c. 1500, when its 120-a.
demesne was on lease, totalled 132 a. in all,
including four 18-a. holdings, presumably representing half yardlands. (fn. 16) At inclosure only 70
a., all but 3 a. held of Dengaines manor, was
allotted as copyhold for c. 85 a. of copyhold then
reported. (fn. 17)
By the mid 14th century (fn. 18) the arable was cultivated in four open fields. (fn. 19) West of the village
lay one then called Portway field, by 1440
Townsend field, and from the 1630s also
Causeway field. The part of it stretching north
of the village was occasionally styled Brook field
after 1580. South of that field in Church, Hall
and Long crofts (over 12 a.), recorded from
1366, lay meadow severally occupied in strips. (fn. 20)
Some Lammas land, 6½ a., also divided, lay
further east. (fn. 21) South of the village was Mill, after
1500 often called Millhill, field, also named c.
1565–1635 Gaines field from the adjoining
manor house. By 1800 it was called Hinton field.
Eastwards lay Millditch and, beyond a watercourse, Holm fields, distinct until the 1650s, but
combined under the former name, corrupted to
Middleditch, by 1800.
On the north-west a brook separated that field
from fen pasture, probably the North fen which
in 1279 stretched for three furlongs from the
village to 'Ditchemelndam', apparently beside a
parallel common pasture reaching as far as the
northern part of the Fleam Dyke. (fn. 22) By 1366, as
still in 1618, its western part was distinguished
as Freshlake fen, perhaps from that stream's
original name. By 1800 it had probably long
been described as the Long meadow and Cow
common. (fn. 23) To its east lay Holm fen, renamed
after 1636 Fishhouse, by 1800 Fishers fen. A
'fisher's house' by the Quy Water bank had long
been demolished by 1775. (fn. 24) A narrow South fen,
in 1279 six furlongs long between 'Caldwell' and
'Meldich', (fn. 25) was probably later represented by
the smaller Gaines fen which lay south of
Millditch field, beside the Caudle Ditch.
Straddling the road south from the village was
Garland green, so named by 1517, (fn. 26) which
provided at least 28 a. of permanent sheep
common. (fn. 27)
In 1794 the open fields were said to cover 600
a., the common pastures 100 a., while another
60 a. of grass was held in severalty. (fn. 28) About
1810, when c. 900 a. (local measure) of fieldland
were claimed, (fn. 29) the open fields were reckoned to
cover 704 a. with 40 a. of balks, besides 312 a.
of sheep and cow commons. There were also
129 a. of old inclosures, of which 108 a. belonged
to the manorial estates. (fn. 30) The open fields
remained until inclosure under a triennial
rotation, (fn. 31) Millditch and Holm fields being
worked in 1636 in a single shift. (fn. 32) By 1567 Caius
College had laid down as leys one 12-a. block in
the south-west of Millhill field, near marshy
land. (fn. 33) Some leys remained in 1810. (fn. 34) Wheat,
barley, and oats had been grown from the 13th
century. (fn. 35) Barley probably predominated in
early modern time: (fn. 36)
c. 1640 one farmer had
sown only 20 a. of wheat and 30 a. of rye, but
120 a. of barley, besides 70 a. of oats and other
'horsecorn'. (fn. 37) In 1801, however, the crops on c.
475 a. included 217 a. of wheat compared with
182 a. of barley and 31 a. of oats. (fn. 38) The name of
Saffron close, recorded in 1669, attached to a
manor by 1810, when Cinquefoil close was mentioned, (fn. 39) suggests that those crops had once been
cultivated at least on inclosed land. By 1810 turnips were also being sown in the open fields, to
be eaten off by sheep. (fn. 40)
In 1086 the manors had carried 220 sheep. (fn. 41)
Bylaws of 1608 excluded sheep from the stubble
for two weeks after harvest, initially reserving
Holm field for calves and working horses. (fn. 42) By
then sheep were mostly kept by the manorial
farms, whose owners and lessees in 1552
resolved disputes by mutually recognizing their
equal entitlement to keep 180 sheep each, the
Savoy having another 60 for Allens farm, in a
combined flock of not over 600 (five 'long hundreds') under one shepherd; they shared costs
proportionately. A single fold was to manure
their land over successive periods in proportion
to the number of sheep which each farm actually
kept. (fn. 43) In 1773, finding the pasture overburdened, the sheepmasters agreed to reduce their
respective shares to 120 or 90 ewes with lambs,
besides 28 or 21 'dry' hoggets, for each of which
they should sow 1 lb. clover. The shepherd was
allowed 40 other sheep. (fn. 44) In 1810 common
rights, of shackage and of stray for great cattle,
also of mowing the balks, were claimed for 37
dwellings or their sites. They were apparently
unstinted although one Quy owner claimed such
rights for 9 cows and a bull. (fn. 45) Before inclosure
cottagers could keep 2–3 milking cows and 3–4
other cattle, but afterwards none. (fn. 46)
Inclosure was effected under an Act sought in
1809 (fn. 47) and obtained in 1810. (fn. 48) The land was divided and common rights extinguished later that
year, (fn. 49) but, partly through disputes over the
allocation of the manorial allotment for rights
over waste, (fn. 50) the award was delayed until 1815. (fn. 51)
It covered 1,043 a. of fields and commons, 13 a.
of old inclosures also being exchanged. (fn. 52) After
231 a. had gone to the rector for glebe and
commuted tithes, the manorial estates emerged
with c. 575 a., equal to their previous fieldland,
but other colleges had only 85 a. altogether
instead of 125 a. An owner-occupied farm, the
only substantial one, received 98 a. for 135 a.
Smaller holdings, none over 12 a., shared barely
80 a., including 21 a. assigned in 3-a. lots solely
for common rights, mostly on the sheep
common. (fn. 53)
On the collegiate farms beneficial leases, for
rents largely in kind established by the 17th
century, (fn. 54) continued to be issued for a time, but
four-course rotations were required, following
inclosure, by the 1820s. (fn. 55) Part of the former fen
apparently remained unploughed in 1841. (fn. 56) The
parish continued into the 20th century to be
dominated by four or five relatively large
farms, (fn. 57) occupied by a few well established families, such as the Heylocks, Footes, (fn. 58) Grains, and
Yarrows. Those farms were often, especially
until the 1880s, combined. In 1851 one man was
working 560 a., including the Rectory and
Pembroke farms, with Manor farm; the Hall
farm tenant occupied 350 a. or more into the
1870s. In the mid 19th century, when 30–40
labourers lived in the village, those large farms
required 35–50 men and 6–10 boys. A new
Manor farm lessee, engaged in 1871 in coprolite
digging, employed 104 men, only five, apparently, from Teversham itself. The rector was
letting 6 a. of his glebe west of the village to
cottagers in 1/4-a. allotments by 1886, (fn. 59) and
10 a. by 1910, when the four largest farmers with
over 175 a. each occupied between them 962 a.
The biggest holding, worked from Hall farm,
then covered 354 a., while the Manor farm
tenant had 245 a. (fn. 60) In 1951 there were still, as
since the 1870s, c. 25 labourers employed in
Teversham, but by 1971 only five. (fn. 61)
On the arable slightly more wheat than barley
was usually sown until the 1930s and again c.
1970, while sugar beet was grown from 1930.
The area under grass increased by a half to c.
350 a., 1870–1900, but again declined to barely
150 a. by 1930; it carried milking cattle into the
1970s. One farmer also started in 1948 a herd of
pedigree Ayrshires, sold in 1969. Sheep, the
grown flock numbering 650 c. 1870–90, only
150–200 later, were no longer kept by 1950. (fn. 62)
In 1267 a former rebel had a half share in a
windmill. (fn. 63) A mill attached to Dengaines manor
in 1328 (fn. 64) was perhaps that which stood on the
Millhill acre, still belonging to that manor in
1567, beside Hinton and Millhill ways in
Millhill field. (fn. 65) Another windmill was settled for
the Jermys with 'Bassingbourns' manor in
1606, (fn. 66) but none was recorded in the parish later.
Smiths, carpenters, and tailors were occasionally recorded c. 1275–1335, and a fuller in
1335. (fn. 67) After 1800 the village seldom had many
craftsmen; only two out of 47 families were supported by trades in 1831, (fn. 68) and in the mid and
late 19th century there were only 1–2 carpenters
and shoemakers, a tailor, and by 1871 a painter
and glazier. (fn. 69) The Borley family, which by 1900
worked the village smithy, once part of the Hall
estate, (fn. 70) built up there a small engineering firm,
still in business at the site of the demolished
forge (fn. 71) off Church Road c. 1990. Another metal
working business was then installed at the Hall,
and Teversham also housed a monumental
mason, a tree surgeon, and a firm handling
refrigerated transport. (fn. 72) The village then had
only one shop as in the late 19th century, (fn. 73)
CAMBRIDGE AIRPORT.
From the mid
1930s the firm of Marshall developed within the
north-western part of Teversham the car and
aircraft business built up by D. G. Marshall
(1873–1942) and his son Sir Arthur Marshall (b.
1903, kt. 1974, retired 1989). From 1989 it was
managed by Sir Arthur's son Michael. The
Marshall Group of Companies is still owned by
the founding family, despite its size. It had originated from a car hire and garage firm, started
in Cambridge in 1909 to provide chauffeured
vehicles for dons and undergraduates. (fn. 74) The
firm began to sell and lease cars, initially for
Austin Motors, in 1920. Marshall's flying school
started c. 1930 to train pilots and flying instructors. The firm purchased farmland mostly in
Teversham in 1935 for a grass airfield, replacing
an earlier one of 1929 near D. G. Marshall's
house. The associated hangars and other ancillary buildings, including a hotel, were put up
along the north-west boundary of Teversham
parish. The new airfield, completed in 1937, was
formally opened in 1938. (fn. 75) The school trained
20,000 RAF pilots during the Second World
War. Between 1939 and 1945 Marshall was also
deeply involved in maintaining, repairing, and
modifying over 5,000 military aircraft, with work
continuing after 1945 on Vampires, Canberras
and V-bombers. (fn. 76)
After 1945, the firm, then employing over
3,000 people, continued into the 21st century to
service aeroplanes for the R.A.F. and other air
forces, especially from 1966 Hercules transport
aircraft. It also engaged in modifying civil airliners to its own designs. Its products included
'drooping' nosecones for Concordes. Its steelframed hangars, the first built in 1937, standing
with other workshops each side of the
Newmarket road, mostly within Teversham's
ancient boundaries, eventually numbered over
twenty; especially large ones were erected in
1956, 1978, 1983, and 1991–2. (fn. 77) The development in 1984–6 of an 11-a. site north of the
Newmarket road aroused much local opposition;
objections included ones on grounds of noise and
traffic congestion. (fn. 78) Marshall was also involved
from the 1970s in aerospace, both for American
and European space agencies. By the 1990s the
total area that its hangars and workshops occupied came to 112;000 sq. metres. The workshops
also accommodated, initially when work on aircraft was less intense, Marshall's other main
business of designing and building, from the mid
1940s, military and commercial vehicle bodies,
also between 1959 and 1985 buses, and from the
1970s military shelters for specialised equipment. (fn. 79) The airfield (fn. 80) came to serve, though in
private ownership, effectively as Cambridge's
municipal airport. Scheduled flights from it went
by the 1990s to destinations both in Britain and
western Europe. In 1952–3 more land was
bought to enlarge it southwards, and the runway,
then concreted to take jet aeroplanes, was widened and extended in 1957 and again in 1972–4
to stretch for 6,400 ft. (c. 2,250 m.) from inside
Cherry Hinton up to the Newmarket road. By
1979 2,000 of Marshall's 3,200 employees
worked at the airport works. (fn. 81) By the 1990s the
total workforce numbered c. 3,500.