82 



THE WILTSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY MAGAZINE 



1900. It was smaller at 308 acres with 

 predominantly sheep. It grew fodder crops but, 

 before the war, virtually no grain. 62 



At Manor Farm the pattern of the changing 

 proportions of arable and grass land followed fairly 

 closely the county trend. In 1914 there were 404 

 acres of arable but this had decreased to 359 acres 

 by 1 9 1 7 .Then considerable ploughing up took place 

 so that in 1 9 1 8 the arable had increased to 499 acres 

 and to 508 in 1919. In March 1918 he reported 

 that he had ploughed up 1 76 acres since June 1917. 

 The proportion devoted to wheat increased 

 significantly from 75 acres in 1914 to 128 acres in 

 1918 and to 192 acres in 1919.This was offset by a 

 decrease in oats from 190 acres in 1914 to 62 acres 

 in 1 9 1 9 . Barley was not grown at all until 1917 when 

 36 acres were planted. 



For the county as a whole the number of sheep 

 gradually decreased each year. At Manor Farm the 

 flock actually increased from 726 in 1914 to 957 in 

 1917. There was then a quite dramatic drop in 

 numbers in 1918 to 715. The number of cattle 

 remained fairly constant at around 250 of which 

 about 60% were cows in milk. Production of milk 

 was still a major aspect of the farm. In June 1918 

 there were 168 cows in milk and they were 

 producing about 2,000 gallons a week. Almost all 

 of this was sold wholesale and only 17 gallons 

 retained for household use (butter and cheese) and 

 for the employees. 



Although the farm's list of employees included 

 three steam ploughmen, there was no mention of 



such implements in the farm's inventory in April 

 1917. Then they still had five horse ploughs, three 

 horse cultivators and 12 harrows. The farm must 

 have relied heavily on its horses for throughout the 

 war the number of horses on the farm remained at 

 about 30. Half of these were heavy horses used in 

 agriculture, 8 or 10 were young, unbroken horses 

 and the remainder were lighter horses used for 

 pulling carts, vans and carriages. 



The labour force had been affected by 

 recruitment into the army. In November 1916 the 

 farm had 25 men and 2 women. By that time 9 had 

 left to join the army and 5 had been moved to work 

 on the Great Western Railway. Of the men left, only 

 8 were of military age (i.e under 41). Of these, 4 

 had been given temporary exemption and 2 were 

 medically unfit. The employees comprised 3 carters, 

 1 1 milkers, 3 steam ploughmen, one shepherd, a 

 blacksmith and the remainder general labourers. 



Although the farm followed the county trends 

 in general, a higher proportion of its grassland was 

 ploughed up than might have been expected. 

 Clearly it was this ploughing up of the permanent 

 pasture which led to the sudden decrease in the 

 size of the sheep flock. Also, although its total labour 

 force may have remained about the same in number, 

 the youngest and fittest men had left. The average 

 age of the workers thus increased significantly with 

 7 between 50 and 60 and 4 over 60. 



Pearl Farm was divided into 1 1 fields each of 

 24 acres with 44 acres of homestead, woods and 

 roads. The rotation of crops shows only a limited 



Table 6: 



Pearl Farm, 



Cholderton Estate: Crop Rotation 











Field 



Oct 1915-Oct 1916 



Oct 1916-Oct 1917 



Oct 1917-Oct 1918 



Oct 1918 



-Oct 1919 



41 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



42 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



43 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



44 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



45 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



46 



Fallow 



Cabbage 



Cabbage 



Cabbage 



Cabbage 



Rape and Turnips 



Winter 















turnips 



and rape 



oats 



47 



Cabbage 



Winter 

 barley 



Mustard 



Winter 

 barley 



Winter 



barley 



Broccoli 



Broccoli 



Rape 



48 



Winter 



Winter 



Winter 



Cabbage 



Cabbage 



Rape and 



Kale 









barley 



oats 



oats 







turnips 







49 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Pasture 



Oats 



Oats 



Barley 



50 



Oats 



Cabbage 



Cabbage 



Mangolds 



Mangolds 



Wheat 



Wheat 



Kale and 

 turnips 



51 



Fallow 



Cabbage 



Mustard 



Winter 



Winter 

 barley 



Winter 

 barley 



Winter 



barley 



Lucerne 

 barley 



Source: W.R.O. 1894/7, Cholderton Estate Farm Accounts. 



