Land, family and community in Wingham and its environs: an economic and social history of rural society in East Kent from C.1450-1640

The thesis is a social and economic study of five contiguous parishes in East Kent, which for the most part formed the estate of the Archbishop of Canterbury at Wingham, the central community of this area, a market village, quasi small town in an area of hamlet communities and isolated farms situated mid way between Canterbury and the port of Sandwich. The topography of this area and its importance as a determining factor in the social and economic structure is outlined. Lordship in this area and the structure of the Wingham estate is traced through the medieval period to the 17th century, revealing the disintergration of an unusally large, medieval, ecclesiastical estate and the emergence of the small estate pattern, more typical of East Kent. The nature o fthese estates continuity and change among resident gentry families and their status, wealth and influence in the locality is considered. The changing pattern of landholding and the ground plan of farms is uncovered, indicating both compact, enclosed units and farms with dispersed arabic parcels in open fields and detached marshland; the influence of demographic trends and inheritance strategies is discussed suggesting long term piecemeal consolidation. The economic structure of this area, situated within the relatively urbanised south east is considered in terms of agriculture, family farms, rural trade occupations, a rural cloth industry, marketing, consumption and local credit. It revealed an intensive and flexible agrarian system with individual autonomy and diversity in family enterprises. The nature of community is examined in terms of general population trends, place and community focus, neighbourhood relationships, networks and urban connections. This study depended on a variety of local sources, in particular a rich survival of probate records, which made possible a biographical method reconstruction and use of case studies.