Agricultural Revolution – how did it affect Buckland Abbey?
Abbey Ox sheds
Linhay
At the end of the 18th century a gentleman called William Marshall visited Buckland Abbey. He was an agricultural reformer who was doing research for his book a Rural Economy of the West of England. Marshall considered west Devon to be the most ignored and disadvantaged agricultural district in England and saw Buckland as no exception to this. He understood that it was in a desolate, remote place but that had led to it having faced ‘long neglect’. However, the new owner of the property Lord Francis Augustus Heathfield employed William Marshall to make the ‘agricultural arrangements’ for the property. William Marshall upon his arrival to Buckland Abbey began making some changes.
One thing he did which can be immediately witnessed as you walk towards the property from the National Trust entrance is a flight of stairs leading down into the first of several enclosures which were reorganised by William Marshall in the 1790s. This particular enclosure would have been as a milking yard.
The Guest House was also converted. It is known that Grenville made some changes to it – it was originally an agricultural building in the monastic era but in the Tudor era Grenville enlarged the widows and probably added a fireplace at the west end which is from the Tudor era. However William Marshall changed the building slightly in the late 18th century (which means late 1700s) by adding a cottage on the west end of the Guest House.
The Ox Sheds – these are William Marshall’s legacy, designed for the Ox teams that worked at Buckland until 1881. The sheds were built on a semi-octagonal plan enclosing a dung yard. At the lower end of the there is an opening to another former straw yard.
In the 19th century as part of the agricultural revolution a Linhay was built – this is a traditional Devon building with an open-fronted cattle shed on the ground floor and a tallet (first floor) for fodder above. In 1791 there were 22 oxen on the estate.
The Great Barn was changed slightly during the Agricultural revolution too. William Marshall recognised that goods had to be moved by hand around the barn as the doors open across from each other in the middle of the barn meant a horse and cart could only walk through the middle of the barn. So in 1792 he added 3 new doors, 2 of which were at the top and bottom of the barn. This allowed carts to be driven the whole length of the barn from the bottom to the top.
The Daily life at Buckland Abbey at the time of the Agricultural Revolution
AS well as rejuvenating agriculture on the Buckland estate, Francis Augustus Heathfield also set about rejuvenating the house so there would have been a lot of work going on at the property. This is just as well as in the 1750s one person described Buckland Abbey like this: This decayed place is a sinker and there is absolutely no forethought in management’ – the dining room ceiling in fact collapsed in 1754! So Heathfield employed the help of an architect, Samuel Pepys Cockerell to remodel the property. Cockerell set about building a new staircase at the South West end of the Great Hall (although this has since been rebuilt) and a great deal more besides that we do not know of – all we know is that redesigning of rooms and other works cost him £7000 by 1801, a lot of money. So there would have been a lot of building work going on or decorating occurring at the building at the time of the agricultural changes that Heathfield also brought about.
In terms of agricultural daily life, Buckland Abbey was once again very busy. Marshall’s farm journals give us some insight into life at Buckland Abbey – it provides a summary of endless work going on in the fields and barns, 6 days per week, throughout the year by men, women and children. On average about 20 farm workers, 12 oxen and 6 horses worked at Buckland. Crops they grew included wheat, barley, oats, turnips, potatoes, cabbages, peas, dairy produce, honey and cider.
There are accounts as well of visits by mane tradesmen, including the mason, wheelwright, blacksmith, miller, cooper, harness- maker, quarryhand and Mr Grear the mole catcher who caught 96 moles in October 1800!!
In July 1815 the estate’s buildings comprised: A well furnished house, with servants wing and offices showing servants were still working there. There was also stabling for 12 horses and 3 coach houses to store coaches in (bit like a modern day garage).
Task:
1) Write down as many ways that Buckland changed during the Agricultural Revolution as you can. 2) Read through the part on The Daily life at Buckland Abbey at the time of the Agricultural Revolution and write down the various roles people had at Buckland during this time.