Girton: Economic history

ECONOMIC HISTORY

In 1086, when the overall value of the vill had fallen since 1066 by almost half to £9, Ramsey abbey had a third of its manor, 2 out of 6 ploughlands, in demesne, the rest being occupied by 7 villani and 4 bordars. On the other two manors over half the land, 3 of 5 1/2; ploughlands, was in demesne, and they had only 3 villani between them, although there were 14 bordars and cottars. The three manors had only 3 demesne ploughteams. Ramsey had 2 servi to drive its one team, and 6 peasant teams. (fn. 1)

In the 13th century the demesnes still accounted for almost half the arable. About 1240 Ramsey abbey was said to have half its 8 hides in demesne, (fn. 2) while in 1289 the Trumpingtons had 160 a. of demesne on the Quincy fee and 80 a. on the Leicester fee. (fn. 3) In 1279 the abbey had 1630-a. yardlands held in villeinage, divided among 3 yardlanders, 24 half yardlanders, and 3 cotmen with 10 a. each, besides nine 1/2;-a. crofters. Its only large freehold was a yardland granted by Abbot Reynold (1113-31) to Robert of Girton, then lessee of the manor. Robert's family, by 1240 named Freeman, which in 1279 had also 21 a. on the Leicester fee, (fn. 4) retained their land until the early 16th century, (fn. 5) the last 10 a. being sold to Serjeant John Hinde in 1540. (fn. 6) On the Trumpington manor there were in 1279 c. 132 a. of freehold, but 190 a. held in villeinage, including three yardlands, two holdings of 17-21 a., and nine of 9 a. In all there were c. 210 a. of tenanted freehold compared to 685 a. held in villeinage. (fn. 7)

From the mid 12th century to the late 12th the Ramsey tenants were formally heavily burdened with customary works. Each half yardland owed works every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday throughout the year, the Friday being assigned except during harvest to ploughing ½ a. Its tenants also owed each year a day's haymarking, three harvest boons, and carrying services to Cambridge, Elsworth, and Over. The cotmen owed similar works, but the crofters only the harvest boons. (fn. 8) A reeve was drawn from the villeins: one ransomed the vill for £5 when the rebels from the Isle of Ely threatened to burn it in 1266. (fn. 9) The Trumpingtons' tenants owed much lighter services: for each 9-a. holding two to four days harrowing yearly, a day's hoeing, and four harvest boons. On all three fees villein tenants had to send their sheep to the lord's fold from Hock Day to Martinmas. (fn. 10) In 1289 the Trumpingtons' villein tenants, although assessed at 114 works each, paid only rent, £6 in all. (fn. 11)

In the early 13th century the Ramsey manor was usually at farm to local men. (fn. 12) Although its demesne was probably in hand c. 1240 when the content of a day's work was specified in detail, (fn. 13) from the 1280s it was regularly let for a rent, including £2 for the annual tallage, that remained unchanged at £30 from then to the 1410s (fn. 14) and was cut to c. £ 25 after the 1440s. (fn. 15) Although ostensibly let to a single farmer in the 1490s, the demesne was apparently occupied in the early 16th century by the tenants as a group: (fn. 16) 11 men shared it c. 1540 under a 99-year lease of 1527. (fn. 17) The Trumpingtons had probably had their demesne in hand in 1264, (fn. 18) but it was on lease for 9 years in 1363. (fn. 19) In the early 16th century that manor was also leased to a group of villagers. Their survivors complained c. 1555 that Francis Hinde was unduly pressing them by actions of trespass to relinquish a 40-year lease made in 1542, which had included, besides the demesne or 'Hall land', all the copyholders' rents, but not their entry fines. (fn. 20)

Probably from the 13th century the arable was divided among up to ten fields. (fn. 21) In the early 17th century Redland field (over 170 a.), so named by 1314, (fn. 22) occupied the northern angle of the parish, being separated by Beck brook from Stanford field (c. 126 a.), mentioned in 1540, east of the village. The Watercodds (103 a.), recorded in 1202, (fn. 23) and Millhill field (111 a.) lay south of the village, while Church field (250 a.), so named by 1493, (fn. 24) adjoined Impington to the east. Fulwell field (93 a.) probably straddled the Huntingdon road in the southeast near Cambridge, and the Great and Little Hay fields (98 a. and 61 a.) and the Hither and Further Meadow fields (153 a. and 86 a.), all mentioned in 1540, stretched along the south side of that road. The Hay fields had perhaps been the Broadmoor field of 1562, which probably adjoined the former common moor or 'broadmoor' south-west of Fulwell field. (fn. 25) A Moor furlong was mentioned c. 1495. (fn. 26) By then the moor had mostly been absorbed into the closes attached to Barnwell priory's Moor Barns grange in Madingley, which c. 1800 included 134 a. of ancient closes, partly arable, in the south-east corner of Girton. (fn. 27) Other meadows including the west meadow, recorded in 1441, (fn. 28) lay mostly along the southern boundary. (fn. 29) The 21-a. Cow pasture lay c. 1800 east of the Moor Barns closes. (fn. 30)

The numerous fields were grouped by the late 15th century to provide a triennial rotation of crops, including c. 1450 wheat, rye, barley, oats, and peas: (fn. 31) wheat, barley, and peas fields were mentioned in the 1490s. (fn. 32) By the early 17th century the fields were assigned for rotation of crops to three scattered groups: Redland, Millhill, and Fulwell fields, over 375 a., formed the first; Church, Great Hay, and Hither Meadow fields, c. 500 a., the second; and Stanford, Watercodds, Little Hay, and Further Meadow fields, c. 375 a., the third. (fn. 33) In the Middle Ages the demesnes perhaps grew mainly wheat; the corn plundered on Sir Roger Trumpington's manor in 1266 included 30 qr. of wheat, 20 qr. of barley, and 26 qr. of oats. (fn. 34) Although the peasantry may perhaps have then grown wheat and barley equally, (fn. 35) by the early 16th century they were concentrating on barley. (fn. 36)

In the early 12th century Ramsey abbey had a demesne flock of 100-120 sheep. (fn. 37) In the 1490s separate folds were kept for its manor and that of the Trumpingtons, called the knight's fee. (fn. 38) Bylaws regulating rights of pasturage were mentioned from the 1430s, (fn. 39) and were formally enacted from the 1490s. (fn. 40) Those bylaws, enforced by field reeves, were repeatedly renewed in the 17th century. In 1653 the stint for cattle was set at one cow for every commonable house and every 14 a., from 1682 10 a., of arable, while that of sheep was reduced from 30 for each holding by 5 in 1653 and again in 1703. (fn. 41) In 1808 some men claimed to keep 2 cows and 6 sheep for each messuage. (fn. 42) Byherds were repeatedly forbidden, especially on the fallow, and in 1682 between 14 December and 1 May. As late as 1703 the villagers were ordered, as in 1430, to remove outsiders' cattle from their holdings by Lammas. (fn. 43) The small farm based on 18 a. of closes at Howes had its own sheepwalk in 1685 and 1746. (fn. 44)

In the 14th and 15th centuries Girton had several prosperous yeoman families, such as the Anfleys, the Mabelys of Howes, (fn. 45) the Yaxleys, and the Collyns (fn. 46) who c. 1500 occupied 87 a. around Girton. (fn. 47) Some of them were lessees of the demesnes. (fn. 48) In 1524, apart from John Hinde who was taxed on goods worth £20 and one other worth £30, there was a moderately even distribution of property: two Freemans and a Yaxley paid on £10-20 each, while 14 lesser men with £2-4 each had £45 between them, and only 6 paid merely on their wages. (fn. 49)

In the late 17th and early 18th century the remaining copyhold properties ranged from those of 10-20 a. up to 55 a., although not all were owned by resident farmers. (fn. 50) Under Charles II only three to five yeomen had houses with 3 hearths or more. (fn. 51) The 32 copyholds recorded c. 1700 were shared among 28 landowners. (fn. 52) Of the 40 men occupying land at Girton in the early 17th century (fn. 53) several were probably lessees on the manorial estate, which c. 1550 allegedly included 500 a. on the Ramsey manor and 300 a. on Enderbys. (fn. 54) It was divided by the 1690s among numerous lessees. One occupied the manor farmhouse and another farm with the 'Girton pastures' near the Hay fields, while another hired the manorial sheepwalk for 400 sheep. Seven more had farms rented for over £20, and there were three lesser holdings, perhaps of 50 a., and 17 smallholders. (fn. 55) During the 18th century the Cottons gradually bought up most of the remaining copyholds, mostly of 5 a. to 18 a., but including one of 45 a. in 1746. (fn. 56) At inclosure in 1813 only 116 a. was allotted for copyhold land. (fn. 57)

By the late 18th century, when the Cottons owned 860 a. of arable and 157 a. of pasture, their farms had been amalgamated into two large ones of 273 a. and 209 a., three middle-sized ones of c. 100 a., and three of 48-68 a., besides four smallholdings. (fn. 58) In the 1790s the manorial sheepwalk was let separately. The sheepmaster could fold his flock of 400 sheep on his own land for 40 nights before serving the rest of the parish. (fn. 59) Large flocks were then kept: one farmer in 1794 owned 470 grown sheep, (fn. 60) others in 1809 and 1816 flocks of 210 and c. 110, in which the Leicester breed was coming to predominate. (fn. 61) In 1794 there were c. 1,200 a. of open-field arable, cultivated upon the customary cycle of wheat, barley, and peas and beans, besides 200 a. of pasture. (fn. 62)

In 1807 Sir Charles Cotton decided to have Girton inclosed. The Act was obtained without opposition in 1808, (fn. 63) and the land had been divided by the end of that year, (fn. 64) although the award was not executed until 1813. (fn. 65) The 1,676 a. involved included 1,351 a. of open fields and common pasture and 288 a. of old inclosures, of which 116 1/2; a. lay around the village and 28 a. at Howes, while 134 a. belonged to Moor Barns farm. (fn. 66) Of the land allotted 1181/2; a. went to the Cockaynes, 60 a. were allotted for church, charity, and collegiate property, and barely 12 a. to eight smallholders, partly for common rights. The Cotton estate emerged with 1,368 a., including 217 a. of old inclosures. (fn. 67) Their land was reorganized into five substantial farms of 390 a., 355 a., 208 a., 172 a., and 114 a. Another 90 a. were initially kept in hand, while 60 a. remained attached to Moor Barns. (fn. 68) Within the next decade, however, several farmers retired or threw up their leases, (fn. 69) and the Cotton estate was again rearranged in the late 1820s to create three large farms of 529 a., 394 a., and 279 a., leaving 135 a. attached to farms in Madingley. Neither they nor their predecessors of 1809 were, however, concentrated in one part of the parish, having large fields in several places. (fn. 70)

Following the sale of 1847 the remaining Cotton land, 740 a. in 1856, later 616 a., was divided in 1856 between Catch Hall farm to the west, usually containing 295 a., and Howe House farm to the east. Initially its 440 a. included 417 a. in Girton, but that area was later reduced to 230-285 a. by letting separately 177 a., of which 112 a. were by 1900 attached to Catch Hall farm. (fn. 71) North of the road (fn. 72) Grange farm and St. John's College farm, each of c. 260 a., occupied until the 1920s most of the land west of the village, while the Cockertons' 130-a. farm and Miss A. M. Cotton's Manor farm, 40 a., lay along the north side of the parish. Part of the area south-east of the village, mostly broken up from 1850 into smallholdings, was probably used for market gardening: the number of market gardeners rose from 3 or 4 c. 1860-80 to 9 or 10 c. 1900, and was usually 6 or 7 from c. 1905 to the 1930s when there were also 1 or 2 nurserymen. (fn. 73) In 1910 c. 1,220 a. were divided between six large farms, including three of 235- 300 a., while 80 a. were occupied by small ones of 20 a. or less. (fn. 74)

About 1830 there was employment for all but 1 of the 65 adult labourers and 40 youths available in the parish. (fn. 75) In 1849 a fire which destroyed Elliott Smith's farmhouse and outbuildings at Grange farm was openly ascribed to arson, despite his alleged liberal indulgence to his workforce. (fn. 76) Another in 1854 burnt most of the neighbouring farmsteads of the Cockaynes' and St. John's College farms. (fn. 77) In the mid 19th century there were usually some 50-60 adult labourers, in 1871 71, and 15-20 boys available for work; the farmers employed 68 labourers in 1851, and 53 men and 23 boys in 1871. (fn. 78) The labourers, whose wives had to go out to work in 1897 to obtain an adequate income, (fn. 79) were assisted by letting allotments to them, including the charity land by 1840, (fn. 80) part of the glebe by 1920, (fn. 81) and by 1938 8 a. of the St. John's College land. (fn. 82)

Until the late 19th century Girton remained devoted mainly to arable farming: in 1841 there were 1,381 a. of arable, compared to 253 a. of meadow and pasture, of which 49 a. had been established on former open-field land near the village, and only 5 a. of woodland. (fn. 83) From the 1860s to the 1880s at least 760 a. were probably sown yearly with corn crops. (fn. 84) Thereafter arable farming met with difficulties: the Wayman and Westley families, which provided from the 1820s two of the Cottons' main tenant farmers, (fn. 85) and still occupied farms covering c. 1,000 a. between 1851 and 1871, (fn. 86) disappeared from the parish between 1875 and 1885, when the occupants of all the larger farms changed. (fn. 87) On the St. John's College farm, latterly regularly cultivated on a four-course rotation, (fn. 88) and on which some pasture was still being converted to arable in 1853, the rent was reduced from the £568 then set to £220 by 1883 and £160 c. 1890. Two tenants were driven by losses to quit it between 1882 and 1890, leaving it on the bursar's hands for two years. (fn. 89) In the whole parish the area under corn crops fell to c. 650 a. in 1895 and only 475 a. in 1905, while that of permanent grass almost doubled from 193 a. in 1885 to c. 385 a. in 1895 and again to 737 a. in 1905. (fn. 90) On the former Cotton estate Catch Hall farm, newly let to a Scotsman, was made into a dairy farm, its arable being all converted c. 1900 to grass. Howe House farm, of whose 278 a. in Girton only 55 a. remained as arable c. 1903, became a stud farm, extensive new stabling being built. (fn. 91) The number of grown sheep reported in Girton fell to c. 350 by the 1890s, and sheep farming had ceased by the 1920s, but more cattle were kept, over 100 by 1905 as c. 1925. (fn. 92) From 1910 Cambridge University occupied Howe Hill farm as part of a farm, covering 700 a. by the 1930s, used to give instruction in mixed farming methods. (fn. 93)

Further diversification followed after 1918. On the St. John's farm, where 95 a. were laid down to grass between 1932 and 1939, the tenant kept a dairy herd of up to 50 (fn. 94) until 1969. (fn. 95) Market gardens and nurseries covered 18 a. by 1895, and the area devoted to orchards grew from 10 a. before 1900 to 29 a. in 1915 and 40 a. in 1935, mostly apples and plums. Up to 12 a. of currants and berries were grown in the 1920s and 1930s. The county council divided Manor farm after 1912, so that there were usually 15- 20 smallholders, occupying 35 a. in 1955. The number of farm workers employed, however, fell from the 40-50 of 1925-35 to barely 10 by 1955. There were until then four or five larger farms, mostly of under 300 a., (fn. 96) but by 1970 only two remained. In 1980 only one farmer still grew corn in Girton. (fn. 97)

A windmill belonged to the Trumpingtons' manor c. 1297. (fn. 98) Another, to which the customary tenants owed suit in 1356, (fn. 99) was leased by Ramsey abbey between the 1280s and the 1370s. (fn. 100) Neither was recorded after 1400. They presumably stood near Church field on the rising ground south of the village, where the Mill hill and Mill way were recorded in the 17th century. (fn. 101) A glover was mentioned at Howes in 1260, (fn. 102) and at Girton a tailor in 1334, (fn. 103) and smiths occasionally from the 14th century. (fn. 104) About 1820 the vestry built a smithy on the green south of the church, out of the money raised through pollarding willows. (fn. 105) It was regularly used by resident smiths until the 1870s, (fn. 106) and thereafter let to smiths attending weekly, until the 1930s. It was demolished in 1956. (fn. 107)

The village was probably too near Cambridge to have many craftsmen in the 19th century: in the 1820s only 8 or 9 families were maintained by trades and crafts, compared to 57-67 dependent on agriculture. (fn. 108) In the mid 19th century there were one or two carpenters and occasionally a shoemaker. (fn. 109) A saddler was in business from 1860 to after 1910, and a wheelwright from c. 1850. From the 1850s until after 1912 there was a bakery, combined after 1880 with a butcher's shop, (fn. 110) and also a confectioner's at Bunker's Hill c. 1840-80. (fn. 111) There were no other permanent shops before the 1910s, (fn. 112) nor were there any in the village in 1984, although a shopping parade stood on the Thornton housing estate. (fn. 113) The Wellbrook laundry, established on the Cambridge road c. 1895 to serve Girton College, (fn. 114) was still open in the 1980s. By 1955 a large cold store had been built behind it. (fn. 115) Further north along that road were the glasshouses of the flower-growing Oaklands Nursery. (fn. 116) In the late 20th century the majority of the inhabitants, both of the new suburb and the village, travelled to work at Cambridge. (fn. 117)