Bampton and Weald: Economic history

ECONOMIC HISTORY.

AGRICULTURE. In the mid 10th century Bampton formed part of a large unitary estate which cut across later field and township boundaries, (fn. 1) but by the 14th century and probably much earlier Bampton and Weald each had their own open fields. Demesne on Bampton Deanery manor in 1317 included 31 a. in Bampton's East field, and 248 a., some of it possibly inclosed, in Canons field further west; (fn. 2) from the later 14th century, however, Bampton's arable was divided chiefly between East (later Truelands, Gog, or Further) field, West (later Parson's Hedge or Lew Leaze) field, and Middle field. Arable in Hogs Acres, straddling the later Lew boundary, in 'Brokhurst', presumably Brockhurst or Brookfast furlong, later in Middle field, and in 'Linton', was separately itemized in 1397 and 1420. (fn. 3) A fourth field, Brookfast or Brookfurlong field, was taken from the southern part of East and Middle fields between 1737 and 1767. (fn. 4) A tenant in Weald held 8 a. in two fields in 1317, (fn. 5) and by the later 17th century Weald had six fields: Mill (later Wrights) field, mentioned in 1592; Ham, Bourton, and Haspwell (or Upwell) fields, mentioned in 1606; and Garsons and Dean fields, (fn. 6) the latter not always mentioned in terriers and perhaps taken from Bourton or Garsons fields. (fn. 7)

Both townships' meadows lay in the south along the Thames and its tributaries. (fn. 8) In 1086 those attached to Bampton manor yielded 655., and 92 a., some presumably in Aston and Chimney, were recorded on Bampton Doilly and Bampton Deanery manors and on Ilbert de Lacy's estate. (fn. 9) Hay for winter feed at Witney was bought at Bampton in 1334-5, (fn. 10) and in 1609 Weald's Lammas meadows were estimated at 405 a. and Bampton's at 227 a. (fn. 11) Some remained lot meadows until inclosure, (fn. 12) though inclosed hams were held of Bampton Earls manor in the 13th century, and in the 14th the demesne included c. 60 a. of several meadow in Honeyham, Broadham, Derdesham, and elsewhere. (fn. 13) In the 16th and 17th centuries some several hams were rotated between different owners over two or more years. (fn. 14) The customary allotment of common meadow in 1691 was 5 a. per yardland (or 4½ a. on Bampton Deanery manor), (fn. 15) but there was much variation, and some more substantial farmers held large amounts of inclosed meadow, (fn. 16) availability of which was said in 1785 greatly to lessen the value of the common meadows. (fn. 17) Meadows and other lands flooded frequently, sometimes causing serious losses. (fn. 18)

Bampton's inhabitants presumably shared pasture rights in Aston's West moor from an early date, since by the 17th century it had been partitioned between the two townships. (fn. 19) In 1425 cattle (grossa animalia) were to be pastured 'in the moor', 'but horses or ploughbeasts (averia) in Rushey, (fn. 20) presumably near Rushey weir, and Bampton West moor remained a cow common in 1767. Then and in 1821 it covered c. 73 a., (fn. 21) but it may formerly have included part of a large triangle of closes to the south-west: in 1609 permanent common pasture in Bampton reportedly totalled 498 a., (fn. 22) and newly inclosed pasture grounds, some explicitly taken from the moor, were mentioned frequently from c. 1622. (fn. 23) Truelands closes to the north, recorded in 1627, may similarly have been taken from a formerly shared common, (fn. 24) though Brookfast (or Brockhurst) closes to the west, where Exeter cathedral had a pasture ground in 1439 and where piecemeal inclosure continued in the 17th century, came possibly from the arable. (fn. 25) In 1634 lessees of Bampton Deanery manor were accused of unlawful inclosure of commons and diversion of highways. (fn. 26) In Weald a band of regular inclosures called Moor closes along the parish's western edge may have been taken from another large common, and a wedge of inclosures to the east, called Drove closes, implies that Weald Lane formerly opened into it in a wide funnel-shape. If so the common had been inclosed apparently by 1618, and in the later 17th century and the 18th cottagers in Weald holding of Bampton Earls manor had cow commons in Cottage close (9 a.), one of the new closes. (fn. 27) Cow leaze, between Bourton and Ham fields, was inclosed pasture belonging partly to Aston Pogges manor by 1789. (fn. 28)

Additional pasture was available in the common fields and meadows and in some closes. In 1362 demesne meadow totalling 60 a. was commonable from when the hay was carried until 2 February, and a 'certain several pasture' from 29 September to 25 March, and in the 17th and 18th centuries some inclosed meadows were commonable from Lammas (1 August). (fn. 29) In 1789 sheep were allowed in the common meadows from All Saints (1 Nov.) to Old Lady Day (5 April) and in the open fields from harvest to seeding, and cows were pastured in the meadows from Old Lammas (12 August) to All Saints, though commons in Ham field were reserved for tenants of Ham Court. Weald's and perhaps Bampton's inhabitants enjoyed further common rights in Great Nipnam pasture in Black Bourton, and in meadows by the Thames belonging to Black Bourton, Alvescot, Brize Norton, and Shilton parishes. (fn. 30) The usual stint in 1609 was 12 beasts and 40 sheep per yardland in Bampton and 8 beasts and 40 sheep in Weald, (fn. 31) but by 1691 Weald's stint was 10 cows and 32 sheep, and in 1789 Bampton's was 8 cows and 20 sheep, perhaps because of inclosure of commons. (fn. 32) In 1812 sheep commons in Weald belonging to Jesus College's estate were of so little value that neither tenant stocked them. (fn. 33) Leys in the common fields and meadows were mentioned occasionally from the early 17th century. (fn. 34)

A wood called Boyvale, where Roger d'Oilly had housebote and haybote in 1279, may have lain outside the townships, though services on Bampton Deanery manor in 1317 included carting wood. (fn. 35) Up to 40 a. of woodland on Bampton Doilly manor was mentioned in 16th-century fines, (fn. 36) but except for a small coppice on the northern boundary there was no woodland in Bampton or Weald by the later 18th century, (fn. 37) and timber mentioned in the 19th was presumably in hedgerows. (fn. 38)

Medieval yardlands on Bampton Earls manor seem to have comprised only 16 a., presumably excluding meadow, (fn. 39) though the size of Exeter cathedral's 3-ploughland demesne suggests an arable yardland on Bampton Deanery manor of nearer 27 a., held, as later, with 4½ a. of meadow. (fn. 40) Seventeenth-century yardlands varied greatly, but were usually reckoned to include c. 20-30 a. of open-field arable, and with meadow and inclosures, often a significant proportion, totalled usually between 30 and 40 a. (fn. 41) The field acres seem, however, to have been only between a half and three quarters of a statute acre. (fn. 42)

In 1086 the 27½-hide Bampton manor, including land in Aston, Lew, and elsewhere, had 6 ploughteams on the demesne, worked by 6 servi. Forty villani, 13 bordarii, and 17 buri had 16 ploughs, and were said to have had 26 in 1066. In all the manor rendered £82, making it the second richest royal estate in Oxfordshire, though the total included non-agricultural income and a £15 corn-rent; the rent was collected from other royal manors to which hundreds were annexed and was apparently associated with ancient demesne. (fn. 43) Bampton Deanery manor, partly in Chimney and Aston, had land for 6 ploughteams, but only 5 were recorded: 2 on the demesne, worked by 2 servi, and 3 held by 10 villani and 7 bordarii. Bampton Doilly manor, reportedly with land for 3 ploughteams, had 5½ teams in all, 2 of them on the demesne worked by 3 servi and 3½ held by 7 villani and 6 bordarii, and Ilbert de Lacy's estate, with land for 3 ploughteams, had 1 plough in demesne and half a plough held by 6 villani and 9 bordarii. All those estates had risen in value since 1066, Bampton Deanery from £4 to £6, Bampton Doilly from £2 to £4, and Ilbert's estate from £2 to £3. (fn. 44)

By 1279 there were 3 ploughlands in demesne on Bampton Earls manor, estimated in 1362 at 196 a. of arable, 60 a. of several meadow, and unspecified several pasture, all or part of it in Bampton and Lew. (fn. 45) The demesne may have been temporarily increased to 4 ploughlands before 1296, when 32 oxen were recorded along with 283 a. of arable, 132 a. of meadow, and 76 a. of pasture, (fn. 46) and in 1422 two thirds of the manor were said to have 4 ploughlands in demesne. (fn. 47) By 1609 the demesne farm, then c. 462 a., included only 66½ a. of open-field arable compared with 322½ a. of inclosed arable, pasture, and meadow, (fn. 48) most of it in blocks of closes north of Weald's Bourton and Ham fields and around Ham Court; (fn. 49) some common rights had presumably been extinguished, since the farm had commons for only 4 yardlands. (fn. 50) In the 15th century and earlier the demesne was administered apparently through bailiffs and stewards, but in the later 16th century and the early 17th it was let sometimes with the house and sometimes separately to the earl's local agents or to local gentry, some of whom probably sublet it to resident farmers. (fn. 51) In 1660 both the house and the demesne were partitioned with the manor, and became indistinguishable from other tenanted farms. (fn. 52)

The d'Oillys' demesne comprised 3 ploughlands in 1279 and apparently in 1347-8, when its division between the two moieties was confirmed. (fn. 53) The demesne farms of both moities were let probably from the 15th century and certainly by the 16th. (fn. 54) Bampton Deanery demesne, also 3 ploughlands in 1279, was estimated in 1317 at 326½ a. of arable (including 47½ a. in Lew), and 51½ a. of several meadow in 'Hynemore' or Highmoor, in Broad mead (later in Haddon), and in Kingsdown by the Thames. (fn. 55) Though the arable was described as open-field land some lay in apparently consolidated blocks of 15-23 a., and by the 17th century and possibly the early 15th, when the lessee was required to maintain appurtenant closes, (fn. 56) the demesne included c. 200 a. of inclosures north of the manor house. (fn. 57) Both the demesne and the house were let from the late 14th century, (fn. 58) and though bailiffs were still appointed in the early 16th century there was none in 1634, when tenants complained of wastes committed by farmers of the manor and asked that one be reinstated. (fn. 59)

Except on Bampton Deanery manor, where 8 villeins each held yardlands, there had been much subdivision of tenant holdings by 1279. (fn. 60) On Bampton Doilly manor all 32 villein tenants held half yardlands, and on the Hospitallers' estate in Weald 3 held half yardlands and 2 held 5 a., perhaps a quarter-yardland. On Bampton Earls manor there were 7 villeins with a yardland, 4 with ¾-yardlands, and 17 with half a yardland, and 11 other tenants, including the miller and a smith, held houses with small amounts of land. Four cottagers, each with crofts, were recorded on Bampton Doilly manor, and 7 on Bampton Deanery manor, evidently a marked underestimate since in 1317 there were 37 cottagers holding 38½ cottages of the latter manor. (fn. 61) Freeholders, with tenements ranging from a few acres to 2½ yardlands, were recorded on all the chief estates except for Bampton Deanery, and in all c. 13½ yardlands were held freely compared with c. 45½ held by customary tenants.

Yardlanders on Bampton Deanery manor owed rents of 5s. 5d. including 20d. aid, and works valued at 10s. 2½d. in 1279 but 5s. 11¾d. in 1317, when they included heavy harvest works besides ploughing, harrowing, and carting. (fn. 62) In 1307 the tenants impleaded the farmer of the manor for attempting to increase services, claiming special status as tenants of ancient demesne. (fn. 63) Heriot was the best beast or 5s., and villeins owed 2 gallons of beer or 2d. at every brewing, which in 1416-17 yielded 4s. in Bampton. Services on the manor were fully commuted by the early 15th century, when sale of works averaged 13s. 4d. for each of the eight Bampton yardlands. (fn. 64) On. Bampton Earls manor yardlanders' rents in 1279 were similar but services were evidently lighter, and in 1296 included weeding, haymaking, and harvesting; (fn. 65) other payments in 1296 included aid, Peter's Pence, and churchscot (rendered in hens), and in 1362 hearthpenny was due at Pentecost. (fn. 66) Rents and services for half yardlands and smaller holdings in 1279 varied greatly, and on Bampton Earls manor 4 half-yardlanders owed rents only; tallage on the same manor was then charged proportionately at 13d. per yardland. Most freeholders in 1279 paid rents only, though several owed tallage and suit of court or hidage and scutage, and one acquitted his lord's obligations at the hundred court as part of his services. (fn. 67)

In 1306 (fn. 68) Bampton and Weald were taxed on total movable wealth of £237 15s., and in 1316 and 1327, when assessments included Haddon, on over £300. The number of contributors rose from c. 115 in 1306 to 143 in 1327, and the payment of £64 12s. 1d. for the whole parish in 1334, representing movables worth £969 1s. 3d., (fn. 69) implies that the area's prosperity was increasing. Much of Bampton and Weald's assessed wealth may have been agricultural rather than commercial, however, (fn. 70) and neither average personalty (c. 43s. in 1327) nor assessed wealth per acre was any higher in Bampton than in surrounding townships. Over half those assessed in 1316 paid on goods worth under 50s., and only 20 (15 per cent) on goods worth 80s. or more, among them the lord of Bampton Earls, with personalty of £13, one of the lords of Bampton Doilly, with £16 18s. 8d., and the lord of Aston Pogges, with £16 14s. 8d. The next wealthiest, taxed on over £8, were presumably freeholders, though between 1306 and 1327 there was little consistency in those paying the highest amounts, and few freeholding families mentioned in 1279 contributed to 14th-century subsidies or paid especially large sums. (fn. 71) Some low payments of under 16s. reflected in part the large number of cottagers, but there was no consistent correlation between wealth, size of holding, and legal status. Villein yardlanders on Bampton Deanery manor were taxed in 1316 on personalty ranging from 48s. (and possibly as little as 16s.) to over £7, and two cottagers were taxed on over 50s. (fn. 72)

Bampton seems to have escaped the worst effects of 14th-century plague, (fn. 73) and on Bampton Deanery manor some rents and services may have been increased in the 1380s. (fn. 74) By the early 15th century the population was evidently falling, however, and there were other signs of contraction. One cottage occupied in 1317 was derelict in 1397, when a new tenant was required to rebuild it, and from c. 1416 to c. 1422 at least 3 yardland holdings and 5 cottages were continuously unoccupied and 6 other cottages were held by one man. (fn. 75) Vacant cottages around the churchyard were absorbed then or later into the curtilages of the north and east vicarage houses. (fn. 76) In Weald, a croft and dovecot belonging to the Hospitallers in 1317 yielded nothing in 1416-17 because the croft was uncultivated and the dovecot destroyed, (fn. 77) and by the 1420s and 1430s some rents on Bampton Deanery manor were falling. (fn. 78) Division and amalgamation of holdings continued: a tenant of Bampton Earls manor held 1½ yardland in 1420, (fn. 79) and by the early 17th century holdings on Bampton Earls and Bampton Deanery manors ranged from ¼ yardland to 3 yardlands. There were then 13 cottages on the Deanery manor and c. 35 on Bampton Earls manor, at least 3 and possibly 5 of them built on the waste and carrying no common rights. (fn. 80) That tendency may have continued during the 17th and 18th centuries as the population increased again: in 1700 there were 20 cottagers on the Talbots' moiety paying a total of 9s. 5d. a year, and in 1789 rent from cottages on the waste totalled 20s. for the whole manor. (fn. 81)

In 1296 the Talbots' demesne was sown with 70 a. of wheat, 22 a. of barley, 25 a. of dredge and oats, and 16 a. of beans and peas, (fn. 82) and the medieval name Linton suggests that flax was grown. (fn. 83) Wheat, barley, and beans, peas or vetches remained the chief crops, with oats mentioned occasionally. (fn. 84) Rarer crops in the 16th and 17th centuries included rye, maslin, hemp, and caraway, (fn. 85) and a testator in 1726 left 10 bu. of apples. (fn. 86) A piggery worth 100s. was mentioned frequently in the late 12th century and early 13th, (fn. 87) and sheep were kept in large numbers by 1187 when Bampton manor was understocked by 150; (fn. 88) over 200 sheep were recorded on Ham Court farm in 1592, when their dung was used as manure, (fn. 89) and the wealthy yeoman George Thompson (d. 1603) left 170. (fn. 90) Smaller flocks were recorded also. Cattle were kept in smaller numbers, and there was some dairying and cheese-making: the maltster Jethro Bunce left 10 cows and over 170 cheeses at his death in 1726, (fn. 91) though some farmers left arable produce worth more than their livestock. (fn. 92) Pigs, poultry, and bees were all kept in the 16th and 17th centuries, often but not exclusively by poorer inhabitants. A twocourse rotation was followed in Bampton in 1296 when 133 a. (47 per cent) were sown out of 283 a. on the Talbots' demesne, (fn. 93) but a three-course rotation was noted in 1362 and 1661, (fn. 94) and in 1789 both Bampton and Weald followed a fourcourse rotation of (1) wheat (2) beans (3) barley or oats (4) fallow, which with occasional variations continued until inclosure. Weald's Ham field, as lighter land, continued on a separate three-course rotation in 1789. (fn. 95)

By the 16th century and probably much earlier Bampton was a relatively impoverished town of farmers and small traders, and may no longer have ranked as a significant market centre. (fn. 96) Only 56 persons paid a total of £50s. 6d. to the first subsidy of 1523-4, a figure lower than for any Oxfordshire market town except Charlbury, and the unfavourable contrast even with relatively poor towns like Eynsham was less marked but still evident in later 16th-century subsidies. (fn. 97) Most leading taxpayers seem to have been farmers or landowners rather than traders, among them Thomas Haydock, assessed on £8 in 1576, whose family acquired part of the Doilly manor. (fn. 98) Thomas Loskey (d. 1574), twice assessed on £10, was lessee of the Doilly demesne farm and of 1½ yardland under Exeter cathedral, (fn. 99) and others were farmers of apparently average wealth. (fn. 100) There seems not to have been a leading group of especially wealthy townsmen such as existed in Deddington, (fn. 101) though 17thcentury probate inventories reveal the expected contrast between moderately prosperous yeomen and labourers and lesser husbandmen. Roughly half those for whom inventories survive left personalty of between £10 and £70, and a quarter left personalty of over £100, (fn. 102) among them Edward Wainwright (d. 1684) of Weald who left goods worth £653 mostly in money, bonds, and bills, but who in 1662 was taxed apparently on only one hearth. (fn. 103) Two thirds of those assessed in 1662 paid on between 2 and 4 hearths, and only 5 on more than 5 hearths, while 11 inhabitants in 1665 were exempted through poverty. (fn. 104)

Almost three quarters of the farms on Bampton Earls manor were leasehold by 1609, though copyholds were still granted in the early 17th century and some survived in 1700. (fn. 105) Not all early leases were at rack rent or for short terms, and though rackrenting and terms of 21 years or fewer became common from the later 17th century, in 1789 four leaseholds in Weald totalling c. 138 a. were held for lives at the old rents, and owed heriot and large entry fines. (fn. 106) On Bampton Deanery manor 1½ yardland of former customary land was leasehold by 1549, (fn. 107) but copyhold grants continued in the late 17th century; (fn. 108) in the 18th the copyhold nature of the estate was deliberately preserved by farmers of the manor, despite amalgamation of 17th-century holdings into large leasehold farms let at rack rent. (fn. 109) After 1812 Edward Whitaker granted the remaining copyholds to trustees, and against the cathedral chapter's will obtained separate inclosure allotments for each, even though they existed only as legal fictions and bore no relation to existing farms. (fn. 110) Surviving copyholds were extinguished in 1868. (fn. 111)

Three leasehold farms of c. 193 a., 85 a., and 65 a. had been formed on Bampton Deanery manor by 1789. (fn. 112) College farm was then 160 a., (fn. 113) and the Talbots' Ham Court farm 297 a., partly through amalgamations since 1700. (fn. 114) Land tax assessments suggest other farms of comparable size, most held by tenant farmers sometimes under several owners, though some smaller holdings survived until after inclosure. (fn. 115) The principal Bampton Deanery farm changed hands at least twice between 1775 and 1799, though the Talbots' Ham Court farm remained with the Sandelands family throughout the earlier 18th century and with the Sammons family from c. 1768. (fn. 116) Ebenezer Williams, of the Coventrys' Ham Court farm and formerly of Chimney, was one of several farmers noted in the later 18th century as especially wealthy. (fn. 117)

New crops, including turnips, clover, rye grass, and sainfoin, were introduced on the Talbots' manor before 1761. (fn. 118) The desirability of inclosure and consolidation was recognized from the 17th century, (fn. 119) but hostile tithe-owners and parsimonious landowners impeded it until 1812 when John Coventry revived the project, and an Act for inclosing Bampton, Weald, and Lew was obtained. (fn. 120) Outstanding problems over compensation for tithes and allocation of costs were overcome, and inclosure began in 1813; the award was made in 1821 and enrolled in 1827. (fn. 121) The earl of Shrewsbury and John Coventry received c. 8 a. and 24½ a. respectively for manorial rights, the earl receiving a further 466 a. in Bampton and Weald, and Coventry 463 a. including c. 225 a. for copyhold land. Another 72 a. were sold presumably to cover expenses. Exeter cathedral or its lessee Edward Whitaker received c. 210 a. for tithes, c. 293 a. for leasehold lands including the 'parsonage' or 'rectory' estate, and c. 230 a. for copyholds; Whitaker, as freeholder and lessee, received over 1,700 a. in all. Numerous other freeholders included John Roberts (185 a. including small leaseholds), Caroline Horde (c. 173 a. for Golofers or Knapps farm), Jesus College, Oxford (147 a. for College farm), Joseph Andrews (145 a.), and Charles Bourchier (45 a. attached to Bampton House and 16½ a. for tithes), and there were many smaller allotments to both freeholders and lessees. The vicars received c. 4 a. for glebe and 616½ a. for tithes, mostly in large allotments near the Thames and near the Lew-Bampton boundary; the churchwardens received 10½ a., the trustees of the Bampton poor 19¾ a., and those of the National School 36¼ a., and 49 a. were awarded to trustees of a Swinbrook charity and 70 a. to those of an Abingdon almshouse. (fn. 122) Intermixed meadows south of Sharney brook were separately inclosed in 1851, and Shilton meadow was inclosed with Aston and Cote c. 1855. (fn. 123)

Most farms created by inclosure remained centred on existing homesteads, some of them in the centre of Bampton, though Coalpit Farm was built on the new Lew road soon after. (fn. 124) Not all were fully consolidated, and in the 1860s and 1870s scattered allotments on College and Ham Court farms made them expensive to work. (fn. 125) Inclosure failed to alleviate the immediate effects of depression: David Miller of College farm, a longstanding tenant whose lands were 'in a very superior state of cultivation', blamed his arrears in 1822 on the difficult times and heavy poor rates, and he subsequently received rent relief and help with essential repairs. (fn. 126) The labouring poor suffered serious unemployment by c. 1818 and still in the early 1830s, (fn. 127) and in 1835, following changes in the Poor Law, there were riots in Bampton and the surrounding area during which a violent attack was made on the wealthy farmer Jonathan Arnatt. Order was restored by Oxford police assisted by local farmers and gentry. (fn. 128)

In 1811 there were 132 families employed in agriculture, compared with 82 in trades, crafts, and manufacture, and 42 whose employment was unspecified. Twenty-four inhabitants in 1861, some also pursuing a trade, called themselves farmers, and over 350 agricultural labourers (including 12 shepherds) were recorded, by far the largest occupational group. There were then 16 farms over 100 a., employing 168 men, women, and children, and Deanery farm (with a homestead on Broad Street), Calais farm, the two Ham Court farms, and Mount Owen farm were each over 200 a. (fn. 129) Mixed farming continued, though some farms, notably College, Backhouse, and the two Ham Court farms, were over half devoted to arable in the later 19th century; (fn. 130) on College farm former open-field land in the west of the parish was good root and barley land and was well suited for sheep, but wheat there was subject to blight, and former pasture in Moor close was fit for growing only oats and sheep-keep. On Ham Court farm crops scorched in dry seasons, and in 1864 its excellent state of cultivation, contrasting favourably with surrounding farms, was attributed to the tenant's skill. (fn. 131)

Wheat remained the chief crop, with barley ('perhaps the least productive' in 1848), oats, and peas, which grew well but were 'little cultivated'. Potatoes, apples, apricots, walnuts and pears were grown, and Jerusalem artichokes were 'astonishingly productive'. (fn. 132) Dairying continued, and beef cattle were also raised, among them Hereford oxen grazed by the tenant of the 'parsonage' farm in the early 19th century. (fn. 133) Sheep remained important and were kept by some small farmers: Thomas Spurrett, a Bampton publican and farmer of 48 a., had 36 in 1861, and in 1865 livestock on Mount Owen farm included 87 ewes and lambs, 50 cattle, and 30 pigs. (fn. 134)

Drainage remained difficult near the river and on the heavy clay in Weald. (fn. 135) Following the Thames Valley Drainage Acts of 1871 and 1874 parts of the Thames between Eynsham weir and Buscot were widened and deepened to improve arterial drainage and prevent flooding, though the Commissioners' occasional appropriation of small pieces of meadow to that end was not always welcomed by local farmers. (fn. 136) Inadequate drainage exacerbated the effects of depression in the 1870s and 1880s: a tenant of the 437-a. Deanery farm in 1876 blamed his failure largely on defective drains laid years earlier which could not cope with two excessively wet seasons, and his successor insisted that they be made good before accepting the lease. Other problems cited were foot-and-mouth disease, and scarcity of labour even at increased rates. (fn. 137) Another longstanding tenant gave up his farm soon after, (fn. 138) and though the tenant of Ham Court remained, exceptionally, fully solvent until 1884, he was then in difficulty and remained in arrears in 1888. (fn. 139)

Mixed farming continued in the 20th century, though by 1914 c. 56 per cent of Bampton and Weald was permanent pasture. Cattle (mostly dairy), pigs, and sheep were kept on an average scale for the region, though as elsewhere sheep farming apparently declined between 1909 and 1914. Wheat remained the chief crop, followed by barley, oats, mangolds, and small quantities of potatoes. (fn. 140)

MARKETS AND FAIRS. In 1086 Bampton had the only market explicitly noted in the county, rendering 50s. a year. (fn. 141) In 1187 it was said to have formerly rendered 70s., but a deduction of 25s. from the half-yearly farm of the manor was then being sought for losses caused by unauthorized markets. (fn. 142) In 1241 Henry III granted to Imbert Pugeys, then farming the royal manor, a weekly Wednesday market and an annual fair on the eve and feast of the Assumption (14-15 August), a grant transferred to William de Valence and his heirs in 1255. (fn. 143) Market tolls in 1296 totalled 40s. a year, but in 1362 were estimated together with pleas and perquisites of the manor and hundred courts at only 33s. 4d. (fn. 144) Since services on Chimney manor in 1317 included ferrying grain to Oxford, Bampton even then may not have provided a ready outlet, though communications between Chimney and Bampton were sometimes difficult, (fn. 145) and a Shifford man sold wheat at Bampton in 1334. (fn. 146) Robert Plot's description in 1677, repeated throughout the 18th century, (fn. 147) of an unparallelled trade in fellmongers' wares, brought from Witney, made into jackets, breeches, and leather linings at Bampton, and sold to buyers from Berkshire, Wiltshire, and Dorset, is unsubstantiated despite extensive evidence of leather working in the parish, (fn. 148) and if reliable may already have been outdated when it was written: in 1669 the market house was ruinous, (fn. 149) in 1673 the market was 'small' and apparently in decline, and by 1766 it had been discontinued 'for some years'. (fn. 150) Presumably its decline resulted partly from the competition of nearby towns with better communications, though falling population in the late medieval period, combined with loss of the royal and seigneurial patronage which had artificially accentuated the importance of the medieval town, may also have been significant. (fn. 151) Periodic attempts to resurrect the market met with little success: it was revived in 1766 for corn, cheese, butter, eggs, fish, poultry, and other provisions, in 1800, toll-free, for corn and cattle, and in 1840, following the building of the arcaded town hall for use as a market house, for cattle, being held thereafter on only the third Wednesday of each month. (fn. 152) Most farmers in the late 18th century and early 19th attended more accessible markets at Witney, Faringdon, Burford, and Oxford, and at Bampton in the 1840s there were only a few dealers mostly in eggs and butter, though 'large numbers' of pigs were sold. (fn. 153) In 1852 the market was almost in disuse, and though occasionally mentioned later as a monthly market for grain and stock it was finally discontinued in the early 1890s. (fn. 154)

The fair was still held on 15 August in 1592, when the tolls, as later, were let; (fn. 155) it was moved to 26 August (15 August old style) in 1756. (fn. 156) In 1793 it was primarily a 'good horse fair' and so continued, though toys were mentioned in 1819 and 1830 and cattle in 1852. (fn. 157) By the mid 19th century it lasted usually from 25 to 27 August, and included a pleasure fair described as 'a sort of carnival to all the neighbouring villages', well attended by children, servants, and others; in 1871 there were stalls, exhibitions, and shooting galleries. (fn. 158) The horse fair had all but disappeared by the mid 1930s, but the pleasure fair continued and in 1992 one still visited the town in August, though no longer on the traditional date. (fn. 159)

A 'fair or great market' for 'all sorts of cattle' was held on Whit Wednesday in 1753, but was not mentioned later. (fn. 160) An annual Michaelmas ox-roast, later a cattle and cheese fair also, was held by 1798 on the Wednesday before Old Michaelmas (10 October), suggesting that it predated the abandonment of the Julian calendar in 1752; it was last mentioned in 1804. (fn. 161) A new, toll-free horse and cattle fair, held annually on 26 March, was instituted in 1803 but was 'nearly obsolete' in 1847; a reference in 1848 to a former ox-roast on 24 March suggests that both fairs may have lapsed sufficiently long before as to become confused. (fn. 162)

TRADE AND INDUSTRY. The existence of a market in 1086 and its refoundation in the 13th century suggests commercial activity, and 17 buri on Bampton manor in 1086 may have been suburban smallholders of a type recorded in other 11th-century towns. (fn. 163) By the 14th century Bampton was not especially wealthy, however, (fn. 164) and medieval trade and industry is poorly documented. Salt-rights in Droitwich (Worcs.) were not explicitly mentioned after 1086, (fn. 165) though property there was still attached to the manor in the late 12th century (fn. 166) and salt tolls exacted at Shellingford fair (Berks.), associated presumably with salt sold on from Bampton, were mentioned in the early 13th. (fn. 167) In 1327 inhabitants taxed on c. £5-worth of goods included Edward Lespicer and Hugh 'le Tannare', (fn. 168) and cottagers contributing significant amounts to 14th-century subsidies (fn. 169) may have included craftsmen: a cottager surnamed le Napper was recorded in 1317. (fn. 170) Shops were mentioned in 1310 and 1420, and a draper in 1467. (fn. 171) Other recorded occupations fell within the usual range of rural trades: 14th-century occupational surnames included cooper, carpenter, and painter, a smithy was recorded in 1279, (fn. 172) and masons, carpenters, smiths, wheelwrights, coopers, tailors, cordwainers, and bakers were recorded in large numbers later. (fn. 173) Butchers were mentioned frequently from the early 16th century: (fn. 174) one in 1686 had a shop in Bampton and two stalls in Burford, and several 16th-century butchers had dealings with Witney tradesmen. (fn. 175)

Accounts of an unparallelled distributive trade in fellmongers' wares brought from Witney may have been exaggerated, (fn. 176) but there was extensive leather-working in the town. Fellmongers, curriers, leather dressers, collarmakers, and glovers were mentioned frequently in the 17th century and early 18th, (fn. 177) and in the early 19th 40 or 50 tan pits, thought to have been blocked c. 200 years earlier, were uncovered behind 'Mr. Robins's', probably Rosemary House on the west side of the market place. (fn. 178) An advertisment in 1799 for a house nearby commented on its suitability for a fellmonger and on the excellence of the water for dressing alum leather. (fn. 179) A currier in 1675 and a fellmonger in 1680 each made substantial bequests including gold rings and silver plate, (fn. 180) though they seem to have been exceptional; a fellmonger with goods worth £91 in 1721 apparently also brewed commercially, and no other fellmongers or leather workers for whom inventories survive left personalty of over £40, a glover in 1677 leaving only £18-worth. (fn. 181) Simon Bassett (d. 1681), a fellmonger taxed on 5 hearths in 1665, issued a trade token in 1669, and seems also to have been a victualler. (fn. 182) Among those involved in manufacture a glover in 1662 left several horse hides and 'other small skins' worth £3 in his shop, and a leather dresser in 1720 left 52 dozen beaver skins worth £25 and 40 calf skins. (fn. 183) Fellmongers, collarmakers, leather dressers, and, later, saddlers and harness-makers continued to be mentioned, though less frequently, in the 19th century and early 20th, among them a fellmonger prosecuted for nuisance in 1853, (fn. 184) but gloving seems virtually to have died out by the early 18th century. Benjamin Collingwood (d. 1749), son of a Bampton glover with premises on Bridge Street, called himself a leather dresser or tanner, (fn. 185) and by 1848 there was a single glove manufacturer who had to travel the country to find purchasers. (fn. 186)

The second largest occupational group in the late 16th century and the 17th was that involved in textile manufacture, reliant, presumably, upon Witney. A broadweaver whose goods in 1701 were valued at £60, including yarn and wool worth c. £39, was owed money by a Witney blanketeer, and several other weavers, cloth-workers, woolwinders, and clothiers were recorded, most of them moderately prosperous with personalties ranging from c. £30 to £80. (fn. 187) A comb maker in 1696, exceptionally, made bequests totalling over £250. (fn. 188) Thereafter the local industry declined, though in 1781 a Bampton man became apprenticed to a Crawley fuller. (fn. 189) A Bampton weaver was on parish relief in 1793. (fn. 190)

Commercial brewing was evidently wide-spread c. 1667 when up to eight inhabitants were presented for breaching the assize of ale, (fn. 191) and maltsters recorded from the late 17th century included some who were relatively wealthy. Jethro Bunce (d. 1726), who probably built Grayshott House on High Street, called himself a maltster in his will and left goods worth over £200, though he was also a considerable dairy farmer. (fn. 192) A maltster in 1705 left personalty of over £100 mostly in book debts and money at interest, and in 1771 an inhabitant was robbed after being mistaken for the 'wealthy maltster' Joseph Shorey. (fn. 193) A malthouse on the corner of Samford Lane and Church View, built in the earlier 17th century, was demolished in the 1820s; (fn. 194) another, attached to nearby Sandford House (with which it was rebuilt in the 1830s) may have been that let to a Brize Norton farmer in 1716, and was demolished in the late 19th century. (fn. 195) A third, at College Farm, was mentioned from the mid 17th century and was perhaps associated with a later brewhouse in the south-east wing, though no trace of a kiln survives. (fn. 196) A malthouse on the north corner of Church Street and Church View, owned by Exeter cathedral, was let in 1789 to the tenant of the Talbot Inn (fn. 197) and in the earlier 19th century to members of the Bateman family, who were grocers, ironmongers and drapers as well as maltsters; (fn. 198) it was held in the 1850s and 1860s by the tenant of Deanery Farm on Broad Street and was demolished before 1903. (fn. 199) The Malt Shovel, north of Lavender Square, had a malthouse probably by the mid 18th century when it was owned by the maltster John Minchin, and passed later to John Ward, maltster, and to Ward's son-in-law Richard Hambidge, maltster and spirit merchant, before becoming a public house in the 1870s. (fn. 200) Some farms and presumably most inns had their own brewhouses, (fn. 201) though in the later 19th century and earlier 20th many public houses were acquired by large commercial breweries outside Bampton, notably Clinch and Co. of Witney. (fn. 202)

Other 17th-century shopkeepers issuing tradesmen's tokens included a tallow chandler and a mercer, and both trades were mentioned, with drapers, throughout the 17th century and the 18th. (fn. 203) A Burford chandler transferred his business to Bampton in 1764. (fn. 204) Mercers included John Willear (d. 1620) and his son Thomas (d. 1654), who bought part of Bampton Doilly manor and" who owned a house on High Street; (fn. 205) William Nabbs, a mercer whose family bought another part of the manor, died at Bristol in 1690 leaving bequests of over £400, and probably had wide trade links. (fn. 206) Several general grocers' shops were recorded from the mid 18th century, though shopkeepers often pursued more than one trade. Edward Bateman, with a house and shop (later Eton Villas) on the corner of Broad Street and Church Street, (fn. 207) was a grocer, ironmonger, and carpenter in 1788, (fn. 208) and Thomas Bryan, a mercer, draper, and haberdasher living by the market place, sold trade licences and was an agent for the Phoenix Insurance Company. (fn. 209) Another grocer, draper, and dealer in spirits and liquors may have brewed commercially. (fn. 210) Other occupations catered for resident gentry and professionals, mostly local landowners and clergy, and reflect attempts to promote Bampton as a genteel country retreat. (fn. 211) Barbers were recorded from the late 17th century, (fn. 212) and by the 1760s there were two apothecaries and two or more clock- or watch-makers, (fn. 213) while in 1778 the stock of a bankrupt butcher, dealer and chapman included millinery, haberdashery, china, and hosiery. (fn. 214) From the early 19th century the solicitor James Rose, later in partnership with R. H. Bullen, son of a Bampton doctor, acted frequently in local transactions; the firm was succeeded by Bullen and Ravenor and later by Ravenor and Cuthbert, (fn. 215) who had offices at no. 9 High Street in 1923. (fn. 216) Holloways' printers, bookbinders, and booksellers was established by 1803, probably, as later, on the west side of the market place; they printed religious tracts and sale catalogues, the family serving also as insurance agents, stamp distributors and, for a time, postmasters. (fn. 217) The premises were acquired c. 1890 by the printer James Beard, formerly of Broad Street, who continued there until the early 20th century. (fn. 218)

Despite such businesses Bampton remained predominantly agricultural, (fn. 219) and in the 19th century only the building trade employed significant numbers: in 1861 there were c. 19 masons, several of them pursuing an additional trade, 15 carpenters, 6 plumbers, glaziers, or painters, and a builder with premises on Buckland Road, New Road, and at Weald. (fn. 220) Among prominent builders and masons, James Pettifer (d. 1842) built the town hall and Sandford House and worked at Ham Court, at the Talbot Inn, and in surrounding villages, (fn. 221) while Samuel Spencer (d. 1841) and Robert Plaster (d. 1877), one of a long-established family of carpenters and wheelwrights with premises on Bridge Street, built several houses in the town. (fn. 222) The aptly named Stone family included several masons, one of whom ran the Mason's Arms public house on Church View in the 1850s and 1860s, (fn. 223) and another mason was publican of the Horse Shoe, which had large yards adjoining. (fn. 224)

Other tradesmen in 1861 included over 20 cordwainers, cobblers, or shoemakers, and several tailors, drapers, bakers, grocers, smiths, and wheelwrights, many still pursuing more than one trade. There was one watchmaker, a tinman and brazier, a joiner and cabinet maker, and a hairdresser and toy dealer, and professionals included two veterinary surgeons and an inland revenue officer. Over 50 domestic servants, mostly women, were noted in 1861 in the homes of the more prosperous tradesmen and farmers and of the landed and professional classes, and several wives and daughters of labourers and lesser tradesmen supplemented family income by laundering, dressmaking, or bonnet and straw-hat making. (fn. 225) Two or more coal merchants recorded for much of the 19th century and early 20th relied at first on river transport and later on the railway. (fn. 226)

The principal shops remained concentrated on the market place, Cheapside, and High and Bridge Streets. Duttons' stores on Bridge Street, established reportedly in 1751 and certainly by 1793, was a general grocers and, at various times, tallow chandlers, chemists, and oil merchants, and continued until the 1980s. (fn. 227) Pembreys' drapery business, which expanded to occupy Lesta House and Strawberry Cottage on High Street and a nearby shop on Bushey Row, was established by 1861 when it employed 4 assistants and 3 apprentices, and continued into the later 20th century under the Smith and Busby families. (fn. 228) Other long-lasting 19th- and 20th-century businesses included the Batemans' ironmongers and grocers on Broad Street, William Angell Smith's drapery and grocery business at Cheapside, George Joyner's bakers, grocers and confectioners west of the market place in a shop rebuilt by Joyner in 1871, and Eeles' grocers south of the market place, which continued in 1957 (fn. 229) and was succeeded by a general stores. A cycle shop opened on High Street before 1911. (fn. 230) Prosperous tradesmen rebuilt or remodelled several shops and houses in the earlier 19th century, (fn. 231) and the butcher Henry Taylor (d. 1854), whose family continued as butchers in the 20th century, accumulated numerous tenements including the Doilly manor house site and the later Romany Inn on Bridge Street, then a butcher's shop and slaughter house. (fn. 232) Another butcher, farmer, and landowner, William Andrews (d. 1856), later called himself gentleman, (fn. 233) and the Duttons also acquired several houses. (fn. 234) Sunday opening may have been common before 1837, when local butchers and others unanimously agreed to abolish it. (fn. 235)

During the 20th century Bampton largely retained its range of retailers and tradesmen, remaining a comparatively self-contained community. By 1895 Duttons' stores provided banking services and there was a branch of Gillett and Co.'s (later Barclays) bank, which moved to the west side of the market place c. 1921 and to the south side in the 1970s, closing c. 1991. (fn. 236) In 1966 there were c. 20 shops along Bridge and High Streets and around the market place, stocking a wide range of provisions, and nearly half the employed inhabitants worked in Bampton; the low rate of vehicle ownership was thought to reflect a relatively high degree of self-containment compared with other Oxfordshire villages. Of those employed outside the town, 21 per cent worked in Witney and 10 per cent in Oxford. (fn. 237) Though some decline in local businesses was reported in the mid 1980s, shops in 1989 included a grocers and fruiterers, a butchers, a small supermarket, a newsagents, fabric and clothes shops, and a hardware store; there was a local thatcher, an upholsterer, and a small building firm, besides a G.P. and a dentist. (fn. 238) A small light-engineering works existed near Folly House in 1971, but Bampton's topography and comparative isolation, combined with planning restrictions, discouraged any largescale light industry. (fn. 239) Collett's motor repair garage at Cheapside was established c. 1903 when the first car to be run in Bampton was built there, (fn. 240) and garages partly on the former Lamb inn site in the market place and near the Talbot Inn on Bridge Street opened apparently by the mid 1940s. Collett's garage closed in the 1970s or 1980s, but that in the market place and another off Moonraker Lane remained open in 1990. (fn. 241)

MILLS AND FISHERIES. In 1086 there were 4 mills on Bampton manor rendering 25s. a year. (fn. 242) One was presumably the later Bampton mill north of Mill bridge, granted with the manor to William de Valence in 1248; it descended with the Coventrys' share after 1660, when, as later, it was a corn grist mill. In 1865 John Jones sold it to William Collett of Clanfield, whose trustees sold it to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1888, and before 1899 it was demolished. (fn. 243) Probably it was the mill held in demesne in the late 13th century and early 15th (fn. 244) and later let with the demesne farm, (fn. 245) and in the 18th century and early 19th it was leased for lives. (fn. 246) A second mill on the manor, held with 5 a. in 1279 for 18s. 10d. rent, tallage, and services valued at 21d., was presumably that let for 20s. a year in 1397 and 1420, (fn. 247) but later references to two mills seem to indicate only that the surviving Bampton mill was a double one. (fn. 248) A watermill and windmill reportedly attached to Bampton Doilly manor in 1572 are otherwise unrecorded. (fn. 249) In the 13th century millers were involved in disputes with Exeter cathedral over flooding caused by the high level of the mill pond. It was agreed that markers should be set to limit the pond's level, and that the dams or sluices should be removed for 3 weeks before and after the feast of St. John the Baptist (24 June) in return for half a quarter of wheat; they were to be removed for a day and a night if the markers became submerged. (fn. 250)

Several people named Fisher or Piscator were recorded in the early 14th century, (fn. 251) and fishermen were mentioned occasionally thereafter. (fn. 252) Fishmongers with premises in the town died in 1596 and 1626. (fn. 253) In 1086 the king received 20s. a year from fisheries in Bampton, (fn. 254) of which one was presumably at Rushey by the Thames, given to Osney abbey by the count of Boulogne c. 1170 with ½ yardland in Weald, and confirmed with its waters, weirs, and fisheries in the later 13th century. (fn. 255) In 1279 there were 3 weirs there, 2 held with ¼ yardland for 30s., and one held with the other ¼ yardland for 13s. 4d. and service of providing a boat for 15 days before and after 24 June for those 'throwing down' the weir, presumably to lower the water level while the meadows were mown. (fn. 256) One or more of the weirs stood apparently on Isle of Wight brook, called the Black water or stream in 1650 and 1890; possibly they included the later Winney Wegs weir, removed before 1911, and a weir near the confluence of the brook and the Thames, removed before 1890. (fn. 257) By the early 16th century Rushey was let separately from the Weald tenements, which retained fishing rights in waters adjoining riverside meadows; (fn. 258) it was granted after the Dissolution to the bishopric of Oxford (fn. 259) but was sold c. 1577 and passed to various owners, (fn. 260) its 18th- and 19th-century lessees including the Rudge and later the Brooks and Winter families. (fn. 261) A stone pound lock, built in 1790, was in a 'frightful state' by 1857, 'stuffed up with bundles of straw to keep the water up to a certain height', and was rebuilt before 1898; the weir, 'old and broken' in 1871, was rebuilt in 1874, enlarged before 1888, and reconstructed in 1932. The house at Rushey was rebuilt c. 1896. (fn. 262)

A fishery owned by Exeter cathedral in 1086 and worth 52s. a year in 1279 was not mentioned later, and lay possibly in canalised streams near the Deanery where there were fishpools in 1317. (fn. 263) A fishery sold with Ham Court in 1865 may similarly have been in Shill brook or its tributaries, adjoining the farm's land. (fn. 264) Most other weirs and fisheries were probably in the network of tributaries north of the Thames, whose main stream lay mostly outside the parish. (fn. 265) Grants to Osney abbey by Geoffrey son of Robert of Bourton in the later 13th century included a weir between Rowney (near Rushey) and Derdesham, a fishery between 'Lutleneye' and 'le Muleam', and half a fishery (presumably half the stream) opposite Ralph Rushey's water between 'Shodforde' and Queenborough meadow. Grants to the abbey by the lord of Aston in 1275 included a fishery called Northlongwater, between Rowney and Queenborough, and two 'islands' in 'Newewerewater'. (fn. 266) A fishery later owned by Jesus College, Oxford, in a stream called 'Woodwire', apparently near Rowney and Dawsham, was acquired with a meadow called Osney ham close and was presumably part of the abbey's former possessions. (fn. 267) Three weirs attached to Bampton Doilly manor in 1279 may have been those from which Exeter cathedral owned the tithes in the 16th and 17th centuries; (fn. 268) fishing rights descended with both moieties of the manor from the 14th century but were mostly sold piecemeal in the 17th, and in 1800 the manor retained fishing rights only in a small private stream south of the manor house. (fn. 269) Fisheries in other tributaries were mentioned throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. (fn. 270)

Kent's or Rudge's weir by Tadpole bridge on the Thames, mentioned in 1746 and removed in 1869, belonged to the Throckmortons as lords of Buckland (formerly Berks.). Old Nans weir, a mile upstream from Rushey and also outside the parish, existed by 1784 and was removed c. 1868. (fn. 271) Walls weir, on Sharney brook, was shown on a map of 1830 but not later. (fn. 272)