AGRICULTURE IN WILTSHIRE IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR 



85 



that the horse was an old crock and ought to have 

 been killed, Cutler was fined 10s. and Hill £1 .° 7 At 

 the end of the war there were large sales of army 

 horses. In December 1918 the Swindon Advertiser 

 reported a local auction of 99 horses, 2 of which 

 made 49 guineas each while the others ranged down 

 to 10 guineas. 58 



Another contentious issue was the Daylight 

 Saving Bill, i.e. the introduction of British Summer 

 Time. This was opposed by a large number of 

 farmers and a lively debate ensued in the local press. 

 Air. Perrett, for example, maintained: "You cannot 

 alter the sun time. In many cases, especially towards 

 autumn, when they had some barley to set, if they 

 got up an hour earlier they would only be able to 

 look at it until the afternoon and then it was nearly 

 time to go to bed." There was also some difference 

 of opinion about the impact on dairy farmers 

 especially those who relied upon their milk catching 

 the special trains to London. It was said that the 

 morning's milk had to arrive in London by 10.30- 

 11.30. It was then pasteurised and cooled before 

 leaving for the afternoon delivery at 12.0-1.0. The 

 evening's milk was sent overnight in time for 

 breakfast in London. It seems unlikely that the 

 change in the clocks had any significant impact on 

 these arrangements." 1 ' 



A further break with tradition came in March 

 1917 when it was decided to work on Sundays to 

 try to ensure that the land was ploughed and crops 

 sown. The season had been particularly late with 

 especially hard frosts in February. The workers of 

 Mr. Maton of Enford, for example, volunteered to 

 work on four Sundays. As a result 280 extra acres 

 were ploughed. There were many, however, who 

 objected. Mr. A.W.Perren of Stanton Mill, Pewsey 

 maintained that God promised seed time and 

 harvest and he had not failed yet - provided we as a 

 nation did not walk contrary to him. Mr. E.A. 

 Rawlence, a Sabbatarian from Salisbury, also 

 claimed that the Church should have called 

 churches to special prayers for a favourable seed 

 time and a prosperous harvest instead of sending 

 men and horses to extra labour. If they had done 

 this, he had faith to believe that we should not have 

 had this particularly bad weather. However, the 

 Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of 

 Salisbury had agreed that the exceptional 

 circumstances warranted this Sunday working. 

 There was some compromise at Enford when an 

 open air service was held in the field. It was 

 conducted by the Rev. W.H.Banford, vicar of 

 Enford, and the Rev. P. Dale, rector of Fittleton, 



with a sermon on the text: "The Sabbath was made 

 for man and not man for the Sabbath." It was said 

 that this service was the first of its kind in England. 70 

 Finally the increasing mechanisation of farming, 

 with more milking machines, stationary engines and 

 motor tractors, could only be sustained if there was 

 a sufficient supply of petrol. But petrol was rationed 

 or, at least, subject to specific allocation by the 

 government. Already by 1916 the farmers were 

 claiming that the allocations were insufficient and 

 they were often getting only half of what they had 

 requested. Mr. Blanchard of the Devizes N.F.U., 

 for example, said he had to run a milking machine 

 which used about six gallons a week and he also 

 had to pump water for two farms, a house and 

 cottages. He was only allowed seven gallons whereas 

 he had asked for 12. 71 



CHANGES IN LAND 

 OWNERSHIP 



It has been estimated that a quarter of agricultural 

 land in England changed hands in the first few years 

 after the war. Many estates began to be broken up 

 and sold from the end of 1 9 1 7 onwards. In general, 

 this resulted in increasing pressure on large 

 landowners and reduced profitability of land. 

 During the war there had been restraints on the 

 increase of rent but the cost of maintenance, repairs 

 and labour had increased sharply. Income tax on 

 rent was also increased; before 1914, on the Wilton 

 and Savernake estates, income tax was 4% of gross 

 rents but by 1919 it was over 25%. 72 



In some cases the break up of an estate was 

 directly related to the death of the owner or his heir 

 during the war. In July 1915 the Amesbury Abbey 

 estates were sold. Sir Edmond Antrobus' son was 

 killed in the war and Sir Edmond died shortly 

 afterwards. The auctioneer regretted that the estate 

 which had been in the hands of one family for so 

 long would have to be sold and he hoped someone 

 would buy the lot. He was disappointed and it had 

 to be disposed of in 75 lots with many different 

 purchasers although much was bought by what was 

 described as the 'Salisbury Syndicate'. 73 



In its report on the sale of the Rushall estate in 

 July 1917, the Devizes Gazette said this was "part 

 of the movement which has for some years been 

 going on in all parts of the country, the change of 

 ownership of property from noble and old county 

 families that have held it for generations, maybe 

 for centuries, to members of the old yeoman stock 



