CHAPTER V.

THE ISLE OF AXHOLME.

To catch the spirit of the common field system, to see that system no mere historical survival, but developing in harmony with modern needs, one must go to the Isle of Axholme. Starting from Doncaster eastwards, through somewhat devious roads, one descends gradually to a wide belt of reclaimed fen. Between this fen on the west, and the river Trent with more fen on the east, is a ridge of low hills, comprising the four large parishes of Haxey, Epworth, Belton and Owston. These constitute the Isle of Axholme--an island, indeed, up to the time of the great drainage operations of Vermuyden in the reign of James I. It was, no doubt, a very ancient home of fishermen and fowlers, who gradually brought the island itself into cultivation, using the plough as a subsidiary means of subsistence. The strenuous opposition offered by the people of Axholme to the work of the Dutch engineer is well known. Even after they were beaten, and the greatest drainage scheme of the seventeenth century was carried through, the four Axholme parishes retained extensive fens, used as common pastures.

When in the eighteenth century the great trade of driving Scotch cattle to the London market, in which Sir Walter Scott’s grandfather was a pioneer, sprang up, the route followed diverged from the great north road in Yorkshire, in order to avoid turnpikes, and the cattle, grazing as they slowly plodded southwards, and fattening on the roadsides, came through Selby, Snaith and the Isle of Axholme. To protect their fields the islanders hedged them along the roadsides, leaving only narrow thoroughfares; then, to make these thoroughfares passable for themselves, they laid down for footpath a stone pavement which still exists for twenty miles. But the old hedges have in many places disappeared, so that the fields lie open to the road; and in particular, the gates which then guarded every entrance to the fields are now generally represented by gaps.

At the end of the eighteenth century by far the greater part of the island proper was in the condition of open arable fields, with properties and holdings intermixed, as in the open fields of Laxton; though near each village there were enclosed gardens, and closes of pasture. It would appear that the original system of cultivation was a four-year course of husbandry, so that one-fourth of the arable land was at any time fallow, and used as common pasture, and common rights were exercised on two of the other three-fourths after harvest; one-fourth probably being under turnips. On the margin of the hill there were perhaps commonable meadows, though I cannot trace them. Beyond, the common fens and marshes, used mainly for grazing horned cattle, extended over an area of about 14,000 acres.

Arthur Young visited the island at this time, and thus describes it:

“In respect of property, I know nothing more singular respecting it (the County of Lincoln), than its great division in the Isle of Axholm. In most of the towns there, for it is not quite general, there is much resemblance of some rich parts of France and Flanders. The inhabitants are collected in villages and hamlets; and almost every house you see, except very poor cottages on the borders of commons, is inhabited by a farmer, the proprietor of his farm, of from four or five, and even fewer, to 20, 40, and more acres, scattered about the open fields, and cultivated with all that minutiae of care and anxiety, by the hands of the family, which are found abroad, in the countries mentioned. They are very poor respecting money, but very happy respecting their mode of existence. Contrivance, mutual assistance, by barter and hire, enable them to manage these little farms, though they break all rules of rural proportion. A man will keep a pair of horses that has but 3 or 4 acres by means of vast commons and working for hire.

“The enclosure of these commons will lessen their numbers and vastly increase the quantity of products at market. Their cultivated land being of uncommon fertility, a farm of 20 acres supports a family very well, as they have, generally speaking, no fallows, but an endless succession of corn, potatoes, flax, beans, etc. They do nearly all their work themselves, and are passionately fond of buying a bit of land. Though I have said they are happy, yet I should note that it was remarked to me, that the little proprietors work like Negroes, and do not live so well as the inhabitants of the poor-house; but all is made amends for by possessing land.”[11]

[11] “Agricultural Survey of Lincolnshire,” p. 17.

In 1795 the chief landowners took steps to obtain an Act for enclosing all four parishes. There were stronger reasons for enclosing than in the majority of the East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire parishes all around, in which Parliamentary enclosure was being pushed furiously on, for the fens were capable of enormous improvement. But in the Isle of Axholme it was not possible for the chief landowners to overbear the opposition of the villagers. One peculiar feature of the locality was that every cottage had a common right, and there were no rights attached to land apart from cottages. This fact, and the peculiarly wide distribution of property, caused the decision to rest with the peasantry. They raised no objection to the division and drainage of the marshes, perceiving that their allotments would be far more valuable after drainage than their common rights before; so this part of the scheme was generally agreed to. But on the question of the enclosure of the arable fields they were not complacent. They saw that the expense of hedging a small allotment would be heavy, and the injury done by the hedge to a small plot, of say 1 or 2 acres, by shading the land and sheltering it from the wind would more than counterbalance the advantage of having that holding in one piece instead of in two or three, to say nothing of the loss of the space given up to hedges. They also probably feared that the arable land, if enclosed, would largely be laid down to grass, and so the benefit of an increased demand for labour and higher wages promised by the enclosure of the marshes would be lost, at least in some degree, through the enclosure of the fields. Accordingly the necessary consent of a “three-fourths majority in number and value” of the owners was not obtained, and the proposal to enclose was defeated. It would appear that all the educated, intelligent, and influential people did their best to overcome this “ignorant prejudice.” But on the other hand there were the votes of all those cottagers who did not as yet possess strips in the common fields, but who hoped to be able to purchase them. They saw that while thousands of acres of land lay immediately round the villages in acre, half-acre, and rood strips, there was a chance of buying one, and so taking the first upward step from the rank of the landless labourer. On enclosure those strips would give place to closes of at least several acres each, and the closes would be quite out of their reach. Blind, obstinate, wilful, and prejudiced as the villagers seemed to their betters, the event shows that they were entirely accurate in their view of the situation.

Arthur Young’s account of these proceedings is as follows: “In the Isle of Axholm there is an immense inclosure on the point of beginning, the Act and survey having been passed of no less than 12,000 acres of commons in the four parishes of Haxey, Hepworth, Belton, and Owston. I passed these commons in various quarters, and rode purposely to view some parts; they are in a wretched and unprofitable state, but valued, if inclosed, in the ideas of the islanders at 10_s._ or 11_s._ an acre.

In Haxey there are 305 claims on account of 3810 acres. ″ Hepworth ″ 236 ″ ″ 2285 acres. ″ Belton ″ 251 ″ ″ 3664 acres. ″ Owston ″ 229 ″ ″ 4446 acres.

“_Cottage rights are claims, but lands without a cottage have none._ It was a barbarous omission that when the Act was procured they resisted a clause to divide the open arable fields subject to rights of common. But they have here, by a custom, a right of inclosure which is singular; every man that pleases may enclose his own open field land notwithstanding the rights of common upon it while open; and accordingly many do it when, by purchase, they get five or six acres together, of which I saw many examples.” (“Agricultural Survey of Lincolnshire,” p. 79.)

Somewhat later a second attempt was made in the parish of Owston to obtain an enclosure with partial success. Three of the four fields were divided and enclosed: but the same motives which prevented the enclosure of the four parishes at the previous attempt were strong enough to secure that one field should remain open. It was in 1811, I was locally informed, that the Owston Enclosure took place. I can find no record of the Act.

As we saw above, the old system (probably a four-field course) of cultivation had dropped into disuse even before the beginning of the nineteenth century, but still, up to about the year 1850, the custom remained that on one of the four fields, that under wheat, after the crops had been carried, the “Pindar” gave notice that “the fields are to be broken,” and over that field common rights of pasture were exercised for about a month, from some day in October to Martinmas (November 23rd). Then the Pindar kept watch over the grazing animals night and day, and by night built up enormous bonfires, with all the boys of the village clustering round and roasting potatoes.

But about 1850 even this custom disappeared, and now every holder of lands in the open fields cultivates them as he chooses, but they must be under some form of tillage as long as they remain open. But the tendency, observed by Arthur Young, for the larger owners of lands in the common fields to buy, sell and exchange strips with other owners with the object of getting some half-dozen acres in one continuous piece and then enclosing them, has continued up to the present day. Such enclosures are laid down in grass, and in this way the area of the open fields has gradually been reduced.

The strips of land in the open fields are known as “selions,” the auctioneers’ notices of a sale reading, “All that selion piece of land,” etc. They are also known as “acres,” “half-acres,” “roods,” etc., but these terms must not be taken as exactly defining their area. A nominal acre varies in area from a minimum of about half an acre to a maximum of an acre and a half. As the half-acres and roods similarly vary, it follows that the largest “half-acres” are bigger than the smallest “acres.”

The general aspect of the fields is well shown in the photograph taken for me by Mr. Newbit, of Epworth. I asked in a bar-parlour in Haxey, “Are these allotments both sides of the road?” A labourer answered, “Yes, but there are seven miles of these allotments.” But the publican corrected him. “Well, it’s not allotments exactly, it’s _a very old system_, that’s what it is.” Further conversation with one man and another gave me a strong impression that the people of Axholme are proud of their “very old system.” That they have some reason to be proud of it Mr. Rider Haggard bears witness:

“The Isle of Axholme is one of the few places I have visited in England which may be called, at any rate in my opinion, truly prosperous in an agricultural sense, the low price of produce notwithstanding, chiefly because of its assiduous cultivation of the potato.”[12]

[12] “Rural England,” Vol. II., p. 186.

Axholme may be described as a district of allotments, cultivated, and in great part owned, by a working peasantry. The “assiduous cultivation of the potato” is rather an indication of the real strength of Axholme agriculture, than a true explanation of it. At the time of Arthur Young’s visit, the isle was noted for the cultivation of flax and hemp; and this continued to be a feature of the local agriculture till about thirty or forty years ago, when the “assiduous cultivation of the potato” succeeded it. Now, as Mr. Rider Haggard notices, experiments are carried on with celery. The small holders, I was assured on all sides, cultivate the land much more thoroughly than large farmers do their farms, and the very look of the crops confirmed this eloquently, even to my unskilled observation. Mr. Rider Haggard quotes a local expert, Mr. William Standring, as saying, “Wheat crops in the isle _averaged seven quarters_ (56 bushels) an acre, the oats nine or ten quarters, the clover hay, which grew luxuriantly, two or three tons an acre, and the roots were splendid.” He continues, “That Mr. William Standring did not exaggerate the capacities of the isle, I can testify, as the crops I saw there were wonderfully fine throughout, particularly the potatoes, which are perhaps its mainstay.”[13]

[13] “Rural England,” Vol. II., p. 194.

The secret of the agricultural success of Axholme is clearly _la carrière ouverte aux talens_, which is secured to agricultural labourers by the open fields. The spirited and successful cultivation of varying crops follows naturally.

How the upward ladder is used, was well explained by a Mr. John Standring, himself a holder of ten acres, before the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Small Holdings in 1889.

It is first to be noticed, however, that the general level of wage is exceptionally high for a purely agricultural district at a considerable distance from any considerable town. The customary wage, I was informed in 1903, was 3_s._ per day. Mr. Rider Haggard, in 1901, found it “2_s._ 9_d._ a day for day men, 18_s._ a week for horsemen, and 16_s._ a week, with cottage, for garth-men. Men living in the house with foremen and owners receive about £24 per annum and food, and horsemen £30 per annum and food.”

But when the labourer who has been living in marries and takes a cottage, he also takes up a holding in the fields. He begins with one “land,” then takes a second, a third, and so on. The following table, showing the way in which land is held in the parish of Epworth, was submitted to the Select Committee[14] by Mr. J. Standring:--

Of holdings over 200 acres there are 2 occupiers. ″ ″ 100 ″ and under 200, there are 12 occupiers. ″ ″ 50 ″ ″ 100 ″ 14 ″ ″ ″ 20 ″ ″ 50 ″ 31 ″ ″ ″ 10 ″ ″ 20 ″ 40 ″ ″ ″ 2 ″ ″ 10 ″ 115 ″ ″ ″ ½ ″ ″ 2 ″ 80 ″

[14] Report, p. 189.

The eighty holders occupying from half an acre to two acres would all be men in regular employment, as a rule, agricultural labourers. A body of these sent their deposition to the Select Committee in the following form:--

“We, the undersigned, being agricultural labourers at Epworth, are in occupation of allotments or small holdings, varying from 2 roods to 3 acres, willingly testify to the great benefit we find from our holdings. Where we have sufficient quantity of land to grow 2 roods each of wheat, barley and potatoes, we have bread, bacon, and potatoes for a great part of the year, enabling us to face a long winter without the dread of hunger or pauperism staring us in the face.”

But the more enterprising of these labourers do not rest content with so small a holding, and these pass into the next class, those who hold up to 10 acres. “Many such,” says Mr. J. Standring, “keep a horse and a cow and a few pigs. And on some of the stronger land two or three of these will yoke their horses together and work their own land, and also land belonging to other men similarly situated who do not keep horses. As a rule they have done very well--I scarcely know a failure.” The payment for horse-hire is usually made in labour.

The most successful of these again recruit the ranks of the larger farmers. “I do not believe there is one in ten in my parish, and in the adjoining parish, among those who are renting from 50 to 100 acres, but what, in my time, has been an agricultural labourer or an agricultural servant before he was married; and each of them, to my own knowledge, has commenced with two or three acres, and in some cases not more than one acre ... one man who is now occupying 200 acres was a labourer in his early days.”

These bigger farmers sometimes move elsewhere, and take larger farms, or bring up their sons in other occupations than farming, so that the farm of 150 to 200 acres becomes again available for division into small holdings. Thus, in spite of the continual growth of the holding occupied by individual men at different stages in their career, the average size of holdings does not show any tendency to increase. This is well shown by the figures given for Epworth, respectively, by Arthur Young and Mr. J. Standring, at about an interval of a hundred years. There were only 236 claimants of allotments in the Epworth commons at the end of the eighteenth century; in 1889 there were 291 occupiers of the 5741 acres in the parish, occupying therefore, on an average, less than 20 acres each.

The same eagerness to own land which Arthur Young noticed has also continued to prevail. Land is bought on the building society principle, money for the purpose being borrowed usually at 5 per cent. per annum, very frequently through the lawyer who conducts the sale. In the days of agricultural prosperity land in the open fields of Haxey, Epworth, and Belton was sold at £130 per acre; land in the one remaining open field of Owston as high as £140 per acre. Even now, in spite of the tremendous fall in price of agricultural produce, the ordinary price is about £70 to £75 per acre; which is about twenty-five years’ purchase of the rent.

It is obvious that a man who borrows money at 5 per cent. to buy land which can only be let at 4 per cent. on the purchase price embarks on a speculation which from the purely commercial point of view, can only be profitable provided the land is appreciating in value. There were naturally cases of men who, at the time when prices were falling most rapidly, were unable to keep up their payments of interest and instalments of principal, and who had in consequence, after a severe struggle, to forfeit their partially won property. At this time the Isle of Axholme won the evil repute of being “the paradise of lawyers.” But it would, I believe, be fair to say that the peasantry on the whole stood the strain of agricultural depression exceptionally well, and that their prosperity, with steadier prices, revived exceptionally quickly.

The Isle of Axholme has been singularly successful in preserving the spirit of the common field system--social equality, mutual helpfulness, and an industrial aim directed rather towards the maximum gross produce of food than towards the maximum net profit; while at the same time it has discarded those features of the system which would have been obstacles to agricultural progress. The “barbarous omission” to enclose the open arable fields has been abundantly justified.

SOHAM.

The parish of Soham, in Cambridgeshire, is another example of a great development of small holdings in connection with the persistence of open arable fields. This parish, unlike most Cambridgeshire parishes, has never been enclosed by Act of Parliament, and the tithe map indicates the survival of about 1100 acres of common field and 456 acres of common in a total of 12,706 acres. Since the tithe commutation the area of common has shrunk to about 236 acres, but from the Ordnance map it appears that there is still a very large area of open field land in four large fields, known as North Field, Clipsatt Field, No Ditch Field, and Down Field; and a smaller one, Bancroft Field. Mr. Charles Bidwell gave the Special Committee on Small Holdings (1889) the following account of holdings in this parish:--

Under 1 acre 195 holdings.

Over 1 and under 5 acres 77 ″ ″ 5 ″ 10 ″ 34 ″ ″ 10 ″ 20 ″ 43 ″ ″ 20 ″ 50 ″ 57 ″ ″ 50 ″ 100 ″ 32 ″ ″ 100 ″ 200 ″ 6 ″ ″ 200 ″ 500 ″ 8 ″ ″ 500 ″ -- ″ 5 ″ (Appendix, p. 501.)

Thus the total area of the parish is held by 457 occupiers, who therefore hold, on an average, 28 acres each. In this case it is stated that the occupiers of the smallest holdings derive considerable benefit from the common. A German enquirer who visited Soham as an example of an unenclosed parish, found it less poverty stricken than the other parishes in the neighbourhood, on account, he was told, of the existence of the common pastures. (W. Hasbach, Die englischen Landarbeiter, 1894.)

WESTON ZOYLAND.

The idea occurs to one, whether it would not have been possible to secure by an Act of Enclosure for a common field, the abolition of common rights which hindered each farmer or peasant from cultivating his holding to the best of his ability, and the laying together of the scattered strips which formed each holding, without ruining the small proprietors and small farmers, or encouraging the laying down of tilled land under pasture.

We find _one_ example of such an attempt. The parish of Weston Zoyland, in Somerset, in 1797 enclosed 644 acres of commonable pasture, and at that time and in that neighbourhood the enclosure of Sedgemoor was being rapidly pushed on, as rapidly, in fact, as the local farmers could be induced to take up the land. Perhaps in consequence of this quenching of the land hunger of the farmers with capital, when in 1830 it was resolved to deal with the common fields, the Act took the form of one for _dividing and allotting_, but not enclosing, Weston Field. The consequence is that this great field of 500 acres still remains open and unenclosed; the land is specially fertile, there are an exceptionally large number of small properties in it, and it is all kept under tillage. I am informed that one of the first acts of the Weston Zoyland Parish Council, when, on coming into existence, it took over the custody of the parish maps and documents, was to re-define the roads that passed through the field, in accordance with the Commissioners’ map and award.