ECONOMIC HISTORY.
There were three ploughs
on the demesne of Winstone in 1086 and eight servi
were employed. (fn. 81) The amount under plough at that
time corresponds approximately to the 347 a. claimed
as tithe-free in 1807, (fn. 82) presumably by virtue of a
grant of the demesne tithes made to Gloucester
Abbey before 1102. (fn. 83) By 1337 the demesne land had
diminished to one plough-land with 20 a. of wood,
5 a. of meadow, and 2 a. of pasture, (fn. 84) and remained
as such throughout the 14th century. (fn. 85) During the
tenure of the Crown the demesne farm was leased at
an annual rent of £3. (fn. 86)
Among the tenants of the estate in 1086 were 10
villani, 4 bordars, and a Frenchman, who between
them worked 8 ploughs. (fn. 87) No further evidence of
tenurial history has been found prior to 1536 when
the rents of the customary tenants were worth
53s. 3d. and those of the free tenants 44s. 10d. (fn. 88)
There were 5 freehold tenants at Winstone c. 1710, (fn. 89)
and in 1782 there were 13 people, including the
rector and the lord of the manor, owning land in the
common fields of the parish. (fn. 90) After the mid 18th
century much of the copyhold land was converted to
leasehold on which heriots were payable; widows
continued to enjoy freebench on lands held by copy (fn. 91)
but copyhold tenure seems to have lapsed by 1782. (fn. 92)
Of the 25 landowners recorded in 1842 14 were
cottagers and 3 others had holdings of less than
10 a. (fn. 93)
There were two open fields and two commons at
Winstone. Park field, south-west of the village on
both sides of the Duntisbourne road, comprised
c. 312 a. in 1782 and Foss field, to the north and east
of the village covered c. 264 a. (fn. 94) Most of the land in
the common fields in the 16th and 17th centuries
seems to have been held in ridges of under 1 a., (fn. 95) but
the exchange of ridges allowed for the consolidation
of holdings (fn. 96) and some new inclosures were noted
in the mid 18th century. (fn. 97) The fields were inclosed
by Act of Parliament in 1782 together with the
commons, Mill common in the southern part of the
Frome valley near Bullbanks, and Foss common
which covered much of the ground east of Ermin
Street. (fn. 98) Sheep and beast pasture was granted in the
fallow field and commons to holders of land in the
open fields and in 1750 a ½ yardlander held 60
sheep-pastures, 2 beast-, and 2 horse-pastures. (fn. 99)
At inclosure Mill common, which contained some
marshland and some woodland, comprised c. 106 a.
and Foss common, the better pasture land, amounted
to c. 82 a.
Although some small areas of land had been inclosed at an earlier date, the award of 1782 dealt with
the inclosure of 763 a. in the fields and commons
mentioned above. Thirteen people were awarded
allotments: six of them received less than 25 a., five
received between c. 40 a. and 85 a., and the two
largest allotments went to William Haviland, who
received 158 a., and the lord of the manor, who
received 222 a. Four members of the Haviland family
received allotments amounting to 318 a. in all. (fn. 1)
The parish was mostly arable in the early 18th
century, (fn. 2) and remained so in 1842, when 1,050 a. of
arable and 220 a. of meadow and pasture were
recorded, (fn. 3) despite the exposed nature of the place
which retarded the crops and vegetation. (fn. 4) By 1901
the amount of arable had diminished to 826½ a. (fn. 5) In
1842 there were ten farms, including the glebe farm,
in the parish: two farms were under 32 a., four were
50 a.-80 a., one farm was 131 a. and another
172 a., and there were two on the manorial estate of
c. 360 a. each. All were primarily arable except for
the farm of 68 a. occupied by William Blackwell at
Winstone wood. (fn. 6) Blackwell held other woodland in
Miserden (fn. 7) and was probably mainly interested in
exploiting the wood on his holding, with the pasture
as a secondary interest. For most of the late 19th
century the number of farms stood at three, (fn. 8) forming the manorial estate; in 1894 Winstone farm
amounted to 357 a., Townsend farm had 330 a., and
Gaskill's farm 174 a. (fn. 9) In the mid 20th century almost
all the land of the parish was farmed by the Miserden
Park estate which had increased the amount of
permanent pasture. (fn. 10)
There was a mill recorded at Winstone in 1086; (fn. 11)
it was presumably on the river Frome but no later
record has been found. Mill common perhaps recalls
the mill but could equally refer to the near-by
Miserden mill, as could a reference to the old mill
near Combe hill in 1584. (fn. 12) A windmill was recorded
north-east of the village in 1584. (fn. 13)
Agricultural requirements have dominated the
employment pattern of the parish; all the inhabitants
in 1381 (fn. 14) and in 1608 (fn. 15) were employed in agriculture.
Later in the 17th century a tinker was recorded at
Winstone (fn. 16) and in the 18th century the services of
the farming community were provided by a carpenter, a maltster, (fn. 17) and a blacksmith. (fn. 18) Carpenters were
recorded in the parish from 1856 to 1910, blacksmiths from 1863 to 1939, and shopkeepers and
bakers at various times during the period. (fn. 19) Among
the tradesmen with perhaps a wider market than the
parish were a charcoal-burner, recorded in 1303 (fn. 20)
and recalled by the name Collier's hedge; (fn. 21) a tailor,
resident from 1856 to 1879; shoemakers, recorded
until 1906; and haulage contractors who established
themselves at Winstone in the 1930s. In 1935 a racehorse trainer was recorded at Winstone. (fn. 22) The building development after the war brought an influx of
people who worked outside the parish, primarily in
Cirencester. (fn. 23)
Local Government.
No medieval court rolls
survive for the manor of Winstone but the profits of
the court were mentioned in 1382. (fn. 24) There is a court
roll of 1547 (fn. 25) and a court book for the period 1761-
1840. View of frankpledge was claimed in the 18th
century (fn. 26) but Winstone had attended the view for
the hundred in the mid 16th century; (fn. 27) the 18thcentury courts dealt mainly with the election of
officers and estate matters. The court elected a
constable, and from 1768 a constable and a tithingman, variously referred to as the tithingman for
Winstone or for Miserden, which was under the
same ownership; the constable elected in 1776 was
also referred to as the constable for Miserden but
there is no evidence of any matters relating to
Miserden being dealt with by the court. The office
of tithingman later lapsed but was revived in 1807,
and from 1812 the court also elected a hayward. (fn. 28)
The parish had two churchwardens from the 16th
century. (fn. 29) No early records of parochial government
have been found. In 1776 £24 was spent on poorrelief but the sum had increased to £45 by 1803 when
6 people were on permanent relief and 12 on
occasional relief. The expenditure rose to £101 in
1814 when 19 people were on permanent and 5 on
occasional relief but dropped to £53 the following
year, (fn. 30) and the average expenditure between 1825
and 1834 was £41. (fn. 31) In 1836 Winstone became part
of the Cirencester union (fn. 32) and in 1971 remained in
the Cirencester rural district.