AGRICULTURE
Until the 19th century Chigwell was a rural parish
devoted mainly to agriculture.
The soil is clay. At Buckhurst Hill
and Chigwell Row there were formerly extensive stretches of woodland forming part of
Epping Forest and Hainault Forest. Apart from the
forests the southern part of the parish has always been
used for pasture, possibly because most of the wealthier
inhabitants lived there and preferred such surroundings.
The remainder of the parish has always contained a
higher proportion of arable land, but even there pasture
has predominated.
Little is known of agricultural practices in the parish
during the Middle Ages. Certain fields at Buckhurst
Hill appear to have been still divided into strips in the
13th century but were consolidated after coming into
the possession of Waltham Abbey about 1300. (fn. 6) Such
records as remain of this period show that pigs were the
main source of revenue, as was usual in this part of
Essex, where the forests provided good pannage. (fn. 7)
Assarts from the forests were numerous in the 13th and
14th centuries, although rarely of more than an acre in
extent. (fn. 8) At Woolston in the 15th century pigs were
still the most common animals, but cattle, sheep, and
geese were also kept. (fn. 9) Most of the arable land appears
to have been worked by the lord of the manor using
customary labour until towards the end of the 15th
century, when labour services had been generally commuted. (fn. 10) Between 1312 and 1534 some 100 acres
arable belonging to the demesne of Woolston had been
converted into pasture. (fn. 11) Grazing land was certainly
regarded as more profitable than arable. The will of
John Fuller of Serjeants, dated 1671, charged his
widow to 'make no waste by ploughing' on the land
which he left her in trust for his children. (fn. 12) An unusual
crop, greenweed, was raised in a field at Buckhurst Hill
in 1664. (fn. 13) It was probably used for dye.
During the 18th century more land probably passed
under cultivation. A tithe survey of 1800 shows that
there were then 973 acres of arable. Wheat accounted
for 280 acres, oats 291 acres, potatoes 32 acres, barley
25 acres, beans, peas, and vetches 26 acres, and seeds
129 acres with 190 acres fallow. There were 2,310
acres of grassland and 30 acres of privately owned
woodland. The remaining 1,696 acres of the parish
were made up mainly of the forest waste at Chigwell
Row and Buckhurst Hill. (fn. 14) According to Vancouver's
tables of 1794 the yield of crops was slightly above the
average for the county. (fn. 15) James Hatch of Claybury in
Barking, lord of Chigwell Hall, who owned some 800
acres in Chigwell apart from waste, was one of the
correspondents who supplied Arthur Young with information for his General View of Agriculture in Essex
(1807). He reported that crops of potatoes, well
manured on a rotational system, had obviated fallow
land. He stated also that fourteen years was the minimum lease that he would grant because tenants could
not 'make the necessary exertions in draining and
manuring under a shorter term'. (fn. 16) Young considered
that the forest waste in Chigwell was a handicap to
good husbandry, any advantage gained by rights of
common being far outweighed by the damage done by
deer and poachers. (fn. 17) He suggested that 750 acres
waste worth 2s. 6d. an acre could be improved to 25s.
by inclosure.
Small inclosures had been continuing in the 16th and
17th centuries, sometimes by grant in manor courts and
sometimes by silent encroachment. (fn. 18) In 1851 Hainault
Forest was disafforested by Act of Parliament. (fn. 19) The
Hainault Forest Allotment of Commons Act, 1858, (fn. 20)
provided that 701 acres (mainly within the parish of
Chigwell) should be allotted as common of that parish.
By the Chigwell Inclosure Award 1863 most of this
common was inclosed. (fn. 21) The largest allotments went
to James Mills, lord of the manor of Chigwell Hall,
who received 209 acres, and Mrs. Lloyd of Barringtons,
who was granted 72 acres absolutely and an additional
50 acres on condition that she maintained it for use as
a public recreation ground. (fn. 22)
Meanwhile, at Buckhurst Hill, inclosures were being
made from Epping Forest. In 1858 James Mills purchased the forestal rights of the Crown in his manor of
Chigwell Hall. (fn. 23) The Epping Forest Commission reported in 1877 that 257 acres had been illegally inclosed
within this manor between 1851 and 1871. (fn. 24) By 1877
most of these inclosures had been built on or had become private gardens and were therefore exempt from
the provisions of the subsequent Epping Forest Acts.
An important exception was Lords Bushes, which contained 92 acres and became part of the forest once more
under those Acts. Unlike those at Chigwell Row, therefore, the inclosures at Buckhurst Hill did not significantly increase the agricultural acreage.
A fair proportion of the parish is still devoted to
farming, mostly in the north and east, and is now evenly
divided between arable and pasture land.