The Properties of Agroecosystems 129Manorial agriculture
One of the longest lasting agroecosystems in history was the manorial system,
introduced into Britain by the Anglo-Saxons in the 7th century and persisting
until the 14th century (Aston, 1981). Although considerable differences arose
from place to place, the essential features of the system remained remarkably con-
stant (Gras, 1925; Ernle, 1961; Stenton, 1965; Baker, 1983). The ecological basis
of its sustainability was the three-course rotation of the open fields (two course on
poorer land, Gray, 1915), that followed a sequence of winter wheat or rye, spring
sown oats, barley, beans or other legumes and then a ploughed fallow. This helped
prevent the build up of pests, diseases and weeds, while marling and a limited use
of manure ensured a good soil structure. Sustainability was promoted also by the
strict control enforced by the village council over cultivation dates, stocking rates
and the allocation of land (Ault, 1965).
Despite the hierarchy of the feudal system there appears to have been a rela-
tively high degree of equitability, at least among the landholding peasants. The
individual strips in the open fields were allocated so that each family received a fair
share of good and bad land while grazing rights on the open fields and on the com-
mons were equally shared.
Productivity, though, was low. Cereal yields were little changed from those of
the wild harvests several thousand years before in the Fertile Crescent (Harlan,
1967). Returns to seed were only three- to six-fold. Oats and barley gave the high-
est yields per acre but the return on the seed sown was lower than that of wheat. A
good idea of the stability of production can be obtained from a remarkable set of
manorial records (Figure 6.4). Oats were the most stable crop and this may explain
why it was the mainstay of the peasant’s food. Note that in the very wet years of
1315–1317 wheat yields were greatly reduced while oats were little affected. Pretty
(1981) has analysed the responses of these crops to disturbance and shown that oat
yields recovered more quickly than wheat following a bad year. Oats were also
more stable in terms of price.
Eventually, the manorial system did break down, partly under the pressure of
growing population. By the early 14th century productivity was falling, to the extent
that some land was being abandoned (Titow, 1969). Other contributing factors were
the growth of a monetary economy replacing that based on allegiances and barter,
and the pressure for social change. The process was also accelerated by the outbreak
of plague, known as the Black Death, which entered Britain in 1348.
The collapse of the manorial system and the enclosure of the open fields to
produce individual estates and farms caused great hardship among the peasantry
but increased productivity per unit of land and labour. Moreover, it made possible
the application of the 18th century scientific revolution. associated with the names
of Townshend, Coke, Bakewell, Tull and others, which managed to combine high
productivity with sustainability based on rotations incorporating roots and leg-
umes and intensive recycling of crop and livestock waste (Plumb, 1952; Kerridge,
1955; Parker, 1955; Riches, 1967; Chorley, 1981).