SMALL HOLDINGS OR LARGE FARMS? 137 



instances of the evils arising from leaving land 

 in the hands of either large or small owners — 

 the Scylla and Charybdis of British agriculture 

 — than the parish of Shipham, and the adjoin- 

 ing parish of Rowberrow, which is entrely 

 owned by its squire. Here the population in 

 1 83 1 was 392. It has now dwindled to one- 

 fourth of that number. 



The village lies in a beautiful gorge, and the 

 wrecked roofs and dismantled walls of the stone 

 cottages give it the appearance of some Alpine 

 village which has suffered from an avalanche. 

 Nothing worthy of the name of farming was 

 to be seen on the land, all being laid down 

 to grass. Sport alone seemed to absorb 

 the energies of the governing classes. The 

 vicarage was an empty house, and the church 

 was served by the vicar of Shipham. The 

 school had also been closed, and on the death 

 of the present generation of squatters every bit 

 of land reverts to the squire, which means that 

 in time this beautiful little gorge will be 

 emptied of life. 1 



There are some who would make a patch- 

 work quilt of England with peasant proprietors 

 wearing the tricolour of landlord, farmer, and 

 labourer. Under their scheme the nation or the 

 State would stand outside as an alien intruder, 

 as something always to be regarded with cold- 



1 Vide A History of the English Agricultural Labourer, 

 1870-/920, by F. E. Green, p. 188. 



