ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Four ploughs were
recorded on the demesne in 1086 (fn. 37) and by the 13th
century the lord's estate was said to comprise 6
plough-lands. (fn. 38) The demesne farm included a
barton in the east part of the parish in 1332 when
4 ploughmen, 4 drivers of plough-teams, and 2
carters were employed. (fn. 39) The demesne arable
remained in hand in 1415 but it was being leased by
1426. (fn. 40) In addition to his arable land the lord owned
extensive pasture land at Chavenage Down and
smaller areas scattered through the parish. (fn. 41) In the
13th century it was said that the manor, if stocked,
could support 500 sheep. (fn. 42) A sheepfold was recorded
at Chavenage in 1332 (fn. 43) and a sheep-house had been
built by 1541. (fn. 44) In 1332, when the lord's flocks
comprised 307 wethers, 285 sheep, 168 rams, and
200 lambs, 3 shepherds were employed with 2 boys
to assist at lambing. (fn. 45) From the 14th century sales of
sheepskins, coarse wool, and fine wool were an
important source of income, and sales of wool in
1453 amounted to £12 9s. (fn. 46)
The tenants at Horsley in 1086 included 6 villani
and 5 bordars, working 6 ploughs, and a radknight.
A house in Gloucester was attached to the estate at
that time. (fn. 47) In the 13th century the tenants were said
to hold 30 yardlands, (fn. 48) and in 1293 owners of
yardlands, half yardlands, fardels, and mondaylands
were recorded. Tenants owed pannage of pigs (fn. 49) and
heriots were due from some holdings. (fn. 50) Copyhold
tenure was usually for three lives but a four-life copy
was recorded in the mid 16th century, when haymaking services were still owed by some tenants. At
that time some properties owed rents of hens and
eggs for their customary right in the woodland. (fn. 51) In
the later 16th century much copyhold property was
converted to leasehold (fn. 52) but copyhold tenure was
recorded in 1671. (fn. 53)
Common of pasture was a valuable asset to the
tenants on the manor and in the mid 16th century
was apparently stinted at 100 sheep to a yardland. (fn. 54)
In 1630 the stint was reduced by one-fifth and the
use of the smaller open fields was restricted. By-laws
were drawn up then to regulate the pasture and 6
sheep-tellers were appointed to survey the pastures
four times a year. Tenants could lease their common
rights to each other but, unless they could claim
ancient usage, they had to keep their flocks in those
fields in which their lands lay. Fourteen of the
tenants, with commoning rights for 1,055 sheep,
agreed to finance any action that needed to be
brought against transgressors of the by-laws. (fn. 55)
Arable farming was conducted in open fields
which survived into the 18th century. (fn. 56) In the
northern part of the parish were Sealywood (or
Nupend) field, which was in two parts in the mid
16th century, and Wimblybarrow field at Tickmorend. (fn. 57) Common field, recorded in 1332 and
apparently an open field in 1777, Chavenage field,
Coniger field, and Hazlecote field lay in the southern
part of the parish. (fn. 58) In the eastern part were Barton
(or Old) field and Binbury field and there were also
some smaller open fields recorded in the mid 16th
century. (fn. 59) Some piecemeal inclosure had presumably
taken place by 1630 when the manor court sought to
regulate such activity (fn. 60) and further inclosure had
occurred by the 1730s. (fn. 61) In 1807 it was said that the
commoning rights of the parish had been reduced to
nothing because of surreptitious inclosure. (fn. 62)
In 1801 there were 1,112½ a. under the plough in
Horsley, including that part later transferred to
Nailsworth, (fn. 63) and 15 yeomen and most of the 103
labourers recorded in the parish in 1811 would have
been employed on the land. (fn. 64) In 1840 three-fifths of
the farm land in the parish was arable and there were
two farms of c. 600 a., one of 433 a., one of 277 a., and
four of 100-150 a., including property in the
Nailsworth area. (fn. 65) In 1856 11 farmers were recorded
at Horsley and their number had increased to 16 by
1889. (fn. 66) During the later 19th century the proportion
of arable farming in the parish dropped and c. 1901
there were 1,313 a. of arable land and 1,805 a. of
grassland in the parish. (fn. 67) The number of farms
remained at c. 14 until the First World War but
consolidation of properties resulted in a decline in
numbers by 1939. (fn. 68)
A mill was recorded at Horsley in 1086 (fn. 69) and three
mills were recorded on the manor in the 13th
century, (fn. 70) some of which may have been in that part
later transferred to Nailsworth. The mills situated in
Horsley were small concerns on the Horsley stream.
Three were recorded there in 1824: (fn. 71) Hartley Bridge
Mill, downstream of the bridge, later belonged to a
farm at Barton End and was worked as a corn-mill
until the end of the 19th century; (fn. 72) a mill below, at
Washpool, had apparently been built in 1796 by
John Remington; (fn. 73) and the third mill, at the east end
of Downend hamlet, may have been used in the
cloth industry in 1840 when a house at the site
belonged to Peter Playne. (fn. 74) Horsley Mill, (fn. 75) below
the Downend mill, was probably the one built at
Horsley by the Playnes of Longfords Mill in the
early 19th century. (fn. 76) It was being worked by the firm
of Playne and Smith in 1839. (fn. 77) In 1879 it was
occupied by John Roberts, a flock-merchant, (fn. 78) but
by 1885 walking-sticks were being made there by
H. W. Jones (fn. 79) and the same business was carried on
in the 1890s by E. Beard & Co. (fn. 80) In the first decade
of the 20th century the Surrey Trout Farm purchased the property with the mill at Downend and
the next mill-pond downstream at Millbottom in
Nailsworth parish. The firm, which later used the
name Midland Fisheries, continued to use the
premises for trout-farming in 1972. (fn. 81) Part of
Horsley Mill had been demolished by 1972 but a
small two-storey wing with a 19th-century house
remained. In addition to the water-mills in the
parish a windmill was recorded west of Tiltups End
in 1824. Called the Black Horse Mill, it was probably
used as a corn-mill in conjunction with the inn of
that name. (fn. 82)
The concentration of mills at the northern end of
the parish in what became Nailsworth made Horsley
dependent upon the cloth industry. (fn. 83) The importance of the cloth industry in the parish is illustrated
by the trades recorded in 1608 and 1811 when the
Nailsworth part of the parish was included in the
totals. In 1608 a clothier, a dyer, 13 tuckers, and 40
weavers were living at Horsley, (fn. 84) and in 1811 19
clothiers, 172 weavers, 19 shearmen, 14 spinners,
4 cloth-workers, 3 blue-dyers, 2 wool-pickers, 2
jenny-spinners, 2 millwrights, a shuttle-maker, and
a yarn-maker were enumerated. (fn. 85)
Tradesmen recorded at Horsley in the Middle
Ages include a charcoal-burner in 1262, (fn. 86) a bowyer,
a glasswright, a carter, and a tailor in 1327, (fn. 87) and a
carpenter, a tiler, and a brewer in 1381. (fn. 88) In the
early 19th century the exploitation of the woodland
provided employment, and 14 carpenters, 12 saddletree makers, 11 sawyers, 2 timber-dealers, 2 chairmakers, 2 wheelwrights, and a woodcutter were
recorded in 1811. (fn. 89) Quarrying was never an
important factor in the parochial economy but 3
stone-layers were working in the parish in 1608 (fn. 90) and
11 masons in 1811. (fn. 91) The urban growth at the
Nailsworth end of the parish is possibly reflected by
the presence in Horsley of a mercer and a chandler
in 1608 (fn. 92) and a peruke-maker in 1757, (fn. 93) and by the
wide distribution of retail and service trades recorded
in 1811. (fn. 94) Of the usual service industries connected
with small communities Horsley had a plasterer and
a carpenter until at least 1935 (fn. 95) and a blacksmith and
a baker until at least 1939. (fn. 96)
A market, possibly of medieval origin, was being
held at Horsley on Saturdays c. 1775. It was then
said to be almost disused (fn. 97) and it had been discontinued by 1804. (fn. 98)