Economic history.
Begbroke field was
mentioned in 1585, (fn. 8) and extensive traces of
ridge and furrow indicate that much of the
parish has been arable. Begbroke's commons
were inclosed c. 1595 by mutual agreement of
the lords, Richard Chetwode and Humphrey
FitzHerbert. In 1603 the latter inclosed 8 yardlands, half the arable in the parish, allegedly for
conversion to pasture, and Chetwode's successor Sir William Spencer, a prominent and controversial incloser, probably did likewise. (fn. 9) Later
evidence suggests that FitzHerbert took land in
the south-west end of the parish and east of the
Oxford-Woodstock road, where he built the
house later known as Begbroke Hill. The Spencers' land lay south of the village across the
centre of the parish, adjoining their Yarnton
land; their tenants continued to farm from Hall
Farm at the west end of Begbroke village. John
Croke, the only other major landowner, presumably took land north of the village, where his
successor's estate later lay. (fn. 10) All those with
rights of common were apparently allowed a
piece of land in severalty, (fn. 11) but most pieces seem
to have become absorbed by larger holdings.
Pasture, of which 40 a. were recorded in
1086, (fn. 12) seems to have lain mainly in the
Marshes, a detached part of Begbroke on the
eastern edge of Yarnton parish. The Marshes
also provided hay, but much of Begbroke's
meadow, said in 1086 to comprise 50 a., lay in
lot meadows along the river Thames, shared
with Yarnton. (fn. 13)
In 1086 Begbroke was assessed at 4¼ hides,
but 3 yardlands may have been omitted since in
1279 there seem to have been 5 hides or 20
yardlands, including a 3-yardland estate held by
Studley priory. (fn. 14) There was land for 6 ploughteams in 1086, but there were only 2 teams on
the demesne and 2 others worked by 6 villani
and 3 bordars. (fn. 15) By 1279 the number of holdings
had been increased. On the Lyons estate there
was ½ ploughland of demesne, and 4 villeins each
held 1 yardland at a rent of 5s., performing
services at their lord's will; the Giffard estate
comprised 1 hide of demesne and 7 villein
yardlanders, and the Studley priory estate 1
yardland of demesne and 2 villein yardlanders. (fn. 16)
In the 14th century some freeholds may have
been created out of the Giffard estate which was
said to have only 5 messuages and yardlands in
1369, and 4 in 1395; rents, however, had risen to
13s. 4d. a yardland, presumably because services
had been commuted. (fn. 17)
In 1316 of 11 people taxed 6 were assessed at
5s., and the average assessment was c. 4s. (fn. 18) In
1327 there was much greater disparity, with 15
assessments between 4s. 4d. and 6d., and with no
two the same. (fn. 19) Returns for the subsidy of 1524
suggest a small, rather poor population: 4 men
were assessed at the lowest level of a landless
labourer, 3 on goods of £2, and 1 man on goods
of £4. (fn. 20) Whatever wealth the parish produced
was mainly in the hands of absentee landlords.
John Manning, a former servant of the
Chetwodes, and his son Richard farmed part of
the Chetwode estate in the later 16th century, (fn. 21)
but the family seems not to have settled permanently in the parish. (fn. 22)
The only known reference to medieval crops
and livestock is from the early 13th century,
when the manor was in the king's hands: wheat,
barley, and maslin were mentioned, and 6 oxen
were sold. (fn. 23) At the time of inclosure in the late
16th century and early 17th much of the parish
seems still to have been arable. (fn. 24) Conversion to
pasture was presumably rapid, for in 1635 the
FitzHerbert estate was said to comprise 240 a. of
pasture, 56 a. of meadow, and only 40 a. of
arable, (fn. 25) and it was claimed in the late 17th
century that no one could remember when land
belonging to the Spencer estate had last been
ploughed. (fn. 26) In a tithe dispute of 1700 Elizabeth
FitzHerbert admitted to keeping c. 20 cows,
selling milk and butter at Oxford market; in
early summer she was able to sell 40 lb. of butter
a week. Some calves were sold for meat. The
cattle were pastured mainly on the claylands in
the south-west part of the parish and on the
Marshes, and sheds were built for them in the
fields. Elizabeth also kept a flock of 120 sheep,
producing 13 tods of wool, a healthy yield of
31b. from each animal. (fn. 27) Wills and inventories
of the period confirm the importance of livestock in the parish, (fn. 28) but some arable seems to
have been retained, probably on the lighter,
more easily worked soil east of the Oxford-Woodstock road. Wheat, barley, oats, and
peas were grown and, by the late 17th century,
turnips. (fn. 29) Hop close, in the village, was mentioned in 1680. (fn. 30)
Leases changed hands frequently in the 17th
and 18th centuries,and holdings, usually small,
were often rearranged. Leases to farmers from
neighbouring parishes were common. In 1691
Robert Spencer, Viscount Teviot, owner of a
quarter of the Spencer estate, had seven lessees,
including two from Kidlington and one from
Yarnton. (fn. 31) Of nine occupiers recorded in the
parish in 1776 only William Cockin, successor
to the FitzHerberts at Begbroke Hill and farmer
of 187 a., held more than 100 a. (fn. 32) Between 1785
and 1799 almost half the tenancies in the parish
changed hands. (fn. 33) The greatest continuity was to
be found on the Dashwood estate, bought from
the Spencers in 1695 and farmed from Hall
Farm. (fn. 34) The former Studley priory estate
changed hands several times after its sale in 1652
by Francis Croke. The Eyans family seem to
have farmed the land for almost 50 years from
the later 17th century, but the house became for
much of the 18th century a country seat for
gentry, few of whom kept the farm in hand. (fn. 35)
Some of the FitzHerberts' Begbroke Hill estate
was kept in hand: in 1674 c. 100 a. in the south-west part of the parish was leased to John Dew,
who also held land of the Spencers, and c. 70 a.
were leased to other tenants. (fn. 36) Some land was
sold to neighbouring landowners, notably 50 a.
in the Marshes which became part of a Kidlington farm later purchased by George Spencer,
duke of Marlborough. (fn. 37) William Young, who
got the largest share of the FitzHerbert estate
when it was partitioned in 1804, (fn. 38) began to farm
the land from Begbroke Hill in 1809, and by
leasing some of the Marlborough land he became the foremost farmer in the parish. (fn. 39) His
successor in the Begbroke Hill estate, Thomas
Robinson, who had been accumulating land in
the parish since 1812, owned 150 a. in Begbroke,
all of which became part of the Marlborough
estate in 1849. (fn. 40) In the late 18th century a
preparedness to pay inflated prices for land in
the parish may have led to the raising of rents
beyond the capacity of the tenants. On the
Marlborough estate, at least, rent was sometimes reduced in cases of hardship. (fn. 41)
From the early 19th century there was further
consolidation of holdings; in 1785 there were 13
occupiers of farmland and in 1844 only eight. By
1844, in contrast with earlier practice, almost all
land was farmed from within the parish, except
for part of the Marshes, farmed from Kidlington, and the rectorial glebe, farmed from Yarnton. (fn. 42) Begbroke Hall farm, comprising c. 400 a.
in Begbroke and elsewhere, was tenanted under
the Dashwoods from the later 19th century by
the Hughes and Hutt families, and has been held
since c. 1910 by the Hastings family. The Marlborough estate, comprising c. 250 a. in the mid
19th century, seems to have been worked from
Begbroke Hill. A farm comprising c. 80 a. in the
south-west, formerly part of the FitzHerbert
estate, was absorbed into the Dashwood estate
in the later 19th century, and the farmhouse,
Orchard Farm, became a private residence. (fn. 43)
The parish was still predominantly laid down
to grass at the beginning of the 19th century,
and remained so in 1844 when c. 360 a. of
pasture and c. 125 a. of arable were recorded. (fn. 44)
Permanent pasture was reckoned in 1914 to
comprise 81 per cent of the total cultivated area
of the parish, one of the highest proportions in
the county. Cattle remained more important
than sheep: for every 100 a. of cultivated land
there were 24 cattle, a high figure, and only 20
sheep. Wheat was the main crop grown, along
with oats and barley, and the parish was notable
for its yields of potatoes and other root crops. (fn. 45)
Begbroke's small population was composed
mostly of poor agricultural labourers. For the
hearth tax of 1662, apart from the manor houses
one house was assessed on 3 hearths, one (the
rectory) on 2, and one on 1; at least one house
was discharged because of poverty. (fn. 46) Of 15
houses in the parish in 1738 over half were 'poor
cottages'. (fn. 47) In 1869 there were insufficient cottages in the village and labour was presumably
obtained from neighbouring parishes. (fn. 48) The
Fathers family of stonemasons was recorded for
much of the 19th century, and other tradesmen
included carpenters, butchers, and carriers.
There was a glove cutter in 1851, and in the later
19th century a few gloveresses. (fn. 49) In the 1930s
workers at the Oxford motor factories began to
live in the village, and from 1945 most of the
population worked outside the parish, although
the opening in 1960 of the Weed Research
Organization at Begbroke Hill provided some
local employment until its closure in 1985. In
1986 the electronics company Solid State Logic
Ltd. moved to Begbroke. In 1988 it employed
120 people there, and the total was expected
shortly to rise to 270. (fn. 50)