Continuity and change in Hertfordshire agriculture 1550-1700. I. Patterns of agricultural production

The rural economies of the London area have long been seen as having responded particularly vigorously to the commercial opportunities created by the rapid growth of London in the early-modern period. This paper, the first of two, presents the results of an analysis of archdeaconry court probate inventories of farmers from the county of Hertfordshire. Topics covered include the relative importance of various cereal crops and of different types of livestock, the innovation of new fodder crops, the importance of particular types of farm enterprise, and patterns of geographical specialization. The results are used to discuss the chronology and geography of developments in agricultural production, and to compare these with the accounts of agrarian historians. It is concluded that these accounts do not adequately describe the chronology and geography of production changes. This has implications for explanations of the causes of agricultural change based on inferences from trends in grain and livestock prices.