ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Lower Haddon may
have had its own fields in 1279 when holdings
were measured in yardlands, (fn. 98) but by the 17th
century and probably much earlier the township
had been fully inclosed, perhaps following 14thand 15th-century depopulation. (fn. 99) Apse wood,
recorded in 1331 and presumably including later
Hapse field (c. 24 a.) in the south-east, had been
cleared probably by 1496 when no woodland was
mentioned, (fn. 1) and in the 17th century was evidently inclosed meadow and pasture. (fn. 2) Around
30 a. of woodland mentioned in early 17th-century fines lay apparently in small coppices in the
north-east and elsewhere, (fn. 3) and throughout the
19th century there was c. 3 a. of wood and
coppice. (fn. 4)
In 1086 Haddon was surveyed presumably
with Bampton. In 1279 there were 6 yardlands
in demesne, and 3 freehold and 2 villein tenants
each held ½ yardland; of the freehold tenements
one owed 2s. and was sublet for 2s. 6d., though
the others each owed 1d. only. The villeins each
owed 20d. rent, besides unusually heavy labour
services valued at 10s. 4d. (fn. 5) In the earlier 14th
century the township was taxed separately from
Bampton only in 1306, (fn. 6) when 13 inhabitants of
Marsh and Lower Haddon paid a total of 25s.
8d.; excepting John of Haddon's payment of 7s.,
presumably for the demesne, contributions
ranged from 9d. on goods worth 22s. 6d. to 3s.
on goods worth 90s. A taxpayer assessed on c.
50s. was probably a freeholder, and another
assessed on 60s. may have been a villein; (fn. 7) average
personalty was slightly lower than in Bampton's
other outlying townships.
Rents in 1331 totalled 31s. 11½d., (fn. 8) more than
the total for rents and services in 1279, but
Haddon seems to have suffered serious depopulation during the 14th century; by the later 15th,
when there were only 3 houses, it had perhaps
already been inclosed. (fn. 9) The Mores may by then
have exploited much of the township directly,
and in the 16th century they were taxed on lands
valued at up to £80 a year. Some land was
presumably let to the remaining inhabitants, and
from c. 1625 the manor house and farm were let
also. (fn. 10) In the mid 17th century and early 18th
there were 3 chief farms held at rack rent, and
some land was let to outsiders, including c. 95
a. held by Bampton and Black Bourton butchers
in 1736. (fn. 11) By the 1770s the whole of Lower
Haddon was let with land elsewhere as a farm
of c. 500 a., for much of the 19th century to the
Gilletts, (fn. 12) and in the 1920s it was sold as a single
farm. (fn. 13)
Despite early inclosure, farming remained
mixed. John More had over 200 sheep in 1540,
pastured apparently in Lew, (fn. 14) and dairying and
cheesemaking were recorded in the 17th and
18th centuries; some land was arable in 1625,
and a tenant in 1710 had crops worth £100
besides dairy cattle, pigs, and 20 sheep. (fn. 15) In 1844
Haddon farm was 62 per cent arable and by 1894
over 70 per cent, though it was capable of
supporting a good head of stock, notably sheep,
and included piggeries and a sheepwash. (fn. 16) A
shepherd was recorded in 1881. (fn. 17)
A broadweaver was mentioned in 1705. (fn. 18) A waterwheel on a small stream in the north-west and a 'mill house' (apparently only a barn or shed) some distance away were marked on a map of 1894, (fn. 19) but no other references have been found.