THE FACE OF THE COUNTRY. 171 



of the tenement of Badgeworthy for one decayed place 

 there." When the place became uninhabited we do 

 not know, but the " Batchery Enclosure" is one of 

 the forest boundaries mentioned in the perambulation 

 of 1 65 1. 



These are not solitary instances ; many farm- 

 steads are mentioned as possessing far larger 

 populations than are to be seen there to-day, and 

 there can be little doubt that this population kept on 

 increasing until 1349, when the Black Death swept 

 over the country, destroying from one-third to one- 

 half of the population, and ravaging, if we are to 

 credit the old accounts, West Somerset and North 

 Devon with even greater deadliness than other parts 

 of the kingdom. 



From the old records referred to it can be seen that 

 all the best, most desirable farms on the sheltered, 

 sunny sides of the valleys were early occupied, those 

 in more exposed places facing north being more 

 modern. Thus we find in Pleas of the Forest prior 

 to this date every farm on the north bank of the Barle 

 from Dulverton to Simonsbath, with the exception of 

 Uppington, and that we find as a personal name. 



All this population had to live by the land and 

 what it produced, there can have been no importa- 

 tion of food or clothing, for there were scarcely any 

 roads, none fit for wheeled traffic. This necessitated 

 a very considerable amount both of stock and 

 of cultivation. Wheat was then probably unknown 

 in the district ; even in the present day it is not 



