124 THE MINSTER LOVELL ESTATE 



the various estates. The attempt appears in the 

 first instance to have been a failure, due on the 

 face of it to the following reasons : (1) The fact of 

 the original settlers being all townsmen ignorant 

 of agriculture ; (2) that they were established under 

 conditions in which it would have been impossible 

 even for an agriculturist to gain a livelihood ; (3) 

 the purchase of unsuitable estates, partly owing to 

 the want of practical knowledge on the part of the 

 directors themselves, and partly to the great hurry 

 in which land was bought to satisfy the clamours 

 of shareholders ; (4) the financial difficulties, which 

 arose largely from the scare of the shareholders on 

 finding that the company was illegally constituted. 

 The end of it has been the creation of a certain 

 number of holdings in various districts which have 

 become available for the local agricultural popula- 

 tion, and have been cultivated by them with 

 varying degrees of success. I propose to take each 

 of these districts, and trace as far as possible what 

 have been the actual results on them up to the 

 present time. 



THE MINSTER LOVELL ESTATE. 



The estate at Minster Lovell was purchased in 

 1847. It lies near the village, fifteen miles from 

 Oxford and three from Witney. 



It comprised 297 acres, and cost 11,094. There 

 is also a tithe of 89 16s. ; the price per acre comes 

 to 37 7s. 



