ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Thirteen ploughlands were recorded on the two Domesday
estates of Broomfield and Blaxhold in 1086, but
there were only 7 ploughteams to support the 20
tenant farmers. The livestock on Broomfield
manor were 135 sheep, 16 goats, 17 pigs, 13
cattle, and a riding horse. More than half of the
land taxed was in demesne, but there was only
one demesne ploughteam. The estates had increased in value by half since 1066. (fn. 96)
By the end of the Middle Ages, the large downs
or 'balls', mostly under furze and heath, were
used like the woodland for pasturage. At Ivyton
there were pasture grounds up to 70 a. in extent,
with very small closes for meadow. (fn. 97) Small areas
of common land on the high ground, such as a
plot of 14 a. on Buncombe Hill in 1515, were
probably brought under cultivation and in 1593
tenants of Broomfield manor had to hedge their
hill plots within three weeks of sowing. (fn. 98) Encroachments on the commons for tillage and
settlement continued in the 17th century, and
oats were grown there in 1637. (fn. 99)
From the mid 16th century land was acquired
by the Halswell family of Goathurst, and farmsteads were established in the remoter parts of
the parish. Hatcombe, Melcombe Stream, Oggshole, and Patcombe were bought by Nicholas
Halswell between 1556 and 1560, and the Halswells and their successors the Tyntes continued
their purchases on the division of Broomfield
manor and the dismemberment of other estates
until c. 1910. (fn. 1) Other farms seem to have been
formed in the 17th century with the break-up of
the Heathcombe estates. They included a farm
successively called Smocombe, Heathcombe,
and Broaddown, another called Gillards, now
Smocombe farm, Smocombe House, Willoughbys and Wood farms, and the land which came
to be attached to Broomfield Hall. (fn. 2)
Tenants on the Halswell estate at Patcombe in
the 1660s were required to apply lime and soap
ashes and to plant clover to improve the soil, and
Broomfield Down may by then have been
ploughed. (fn. 3) Common rights for as many as 700
sheep on Wood Common had been shared
between 11 tenants c. 1600 (fn. 4) and sheep were
numerous on one farm at Ivyton in 1686, where
pigs and bees were also recorded in an inventory
of a prosperous tenant, who grew wheat and
barley on his arable land. (fn. 5) The owner of Binfords also kept pigs and bees, the latter
producing 60 lb. of honey a year, and among his
crops were apples and hops. (fn. 6) Peas were grown
on 20 a. at Patcombe in 1711, hops at Heathcombe and elsewhere later in the century, and
flax at Ivyton. (fn. 7)
Improvements in the 18th century included
the inclosure of Priors Down by 1755 (fn. 8) and the
creation of catch meadows on the hillsides above
Rose Hill and west and north-east of Stream
Farm. (fn. 9) Farm amalgamation took place, notably
on the Halswell estate, where the larger units
were let at rack rents. By 1835 several of the
farms had been amalgamated at Ivyton, and
Stream had absorbed five other holdings. (fn. 10) In
1838 there were still 20 holdings of under 50 a.
and a further 16 of under 100 a.; nine more
measured between 100 a. and 200 a., and three
were over 200 a. including Ivyton (361 a.) and
Stream (338 a.). Broomfield Common covered
303 a. despite encroachments. (fn. 11)
Significant changes took place in the later 19th
century. In 1838 there were 2,478 a. of arable
and 764 a. of meadow, pasture, and orchard. (fn. 12)
By 1881 the number of farms over 300 a. had
increased to four and the number of recorded
farm labourers had dropped from 92 in 1871 to
79. (fn. 13) Between 1838 and 1905 the arable land in
the parish had been reduced by more than half
and converted either to grass or to woodland,
grass amounting in 1905 to 1,536 a. (fn. 14) During the
20th century the number of farms shrank still
further, the population fell sharply, and many
isolated farm sites, including Hatcombe, Willoughbys, and Denman's Well were abandoned.
Returns for 1982 covering about half the parish
showed a predominance of grassland and livestock husbandry, but a variety of crops was also
grown. The main crop returned was winter
barley but some wheat and oats were grown
together with potatoes, beans, turnips, swedes,
and fodder crops. Of the 13 holdings recorded,
7 were over 50 ha. (c. 124 a.) and 3 were worked
only part-time. There were 8 specialist dairy
farms and 2 holdings rearing cattle and sheep.
Livestock comprised 1,189 sheep, 992 cattle, 106
poultry, and 12 pigs. (fn. 15)
Woodland management can be traced from the
later 16th century. Copyholders had the right to
shroud trees in certain areas and in 1580 some
rights to shrouds on Buncombe Hill and other
places were let in return for manuring and tillage
and later some small-scale felling. Broom was
also sold. (fn. 16) Woodland near Binfords was coppiced in the early 18th century, (fn. 17) and felling at
Buncombe c. 1815 produced 516 oaks. (fn. 18) Timber
from the parish may have been used to build two
vessels at Bridgwater c. 1879 and continued to
be exploited c. 1910. (fn. 19) The parish provided
employment for several carpenters in the later
19th century. (fn. 20)
In 1814 iron and copper ores were found in
the parish; (fn. 21)
c. 1825 Andrew Crosse attempted
to mine copper by means of a 100-yard adit, and
two shafts were sunk into the hill at Wort wood.
In 1845 the mine was revived using a steam
engine and Cornish miners, but it was abandoned because the engine could not cope with
the water in the mine. (fn. 22) In 1853 local landowners
agreed to work three mines including an old one
near Raswell Farm. The Broomfield Consols
Copper and Silver-Lead Mining Co. was formed
and later in 1853 it was claimed that good quality
ore had been raised. Not only copper and lead
but malachite and silver were said to be present,
the last at 30 oz. per ton of ore. Mining was
abandoned in 1854. (fn. 23)
The only evidence for clothmaking was a
fulling mill recorded in the 15th century and the
survival into the 19th century of the field names
Rack House at Holwell and Rack Close adjoining
Priors Down. (fn. 24)
Mills.
Nailscombe mill, said to have been
given to Henry de la Tour (d. by 1280) by
Margery de Newburgh, (fn. 25) descended with Ivyton
manor until the 16th century. (fn. 26) The miller, John
Needs, built a second mill before 1591, and was
succeeded by William Needs (d. 1597) and
Emmanuel Needs. (fn. 27) In 1612 lower and higher
mills were recorded, and in 1653 a middle mill.
A mill, probably the higher mill, was burnt
down c. 1649, and an adjoining house was later
known as Burnt Mill. Only one mill was recorded at Nailscombe in 1681. (fn. 28) It was named
Bradford mill after 18th-century tenants and
later Broomfield mill. (fn. 29) It continued working
until the 1930s. (fn. 30) The mill, beside the Taunton
road adjoining the boundary with Kingston St.
Mary parish, was converted to a dwelling and
the head pond was filled in.
There was a fulling mill called Nailscombe in
Ivyton in 1447. (fn. 31) It was probably the mill held
by the Warren family in the 1500s and forfeited
c. 1523. (fn. 32) It was not recorded thereafter.
There was a mill at Heathcombe in 1293. (fn. 33)
Both Broomfield and Enmore manors claimed
ownership of part of a mill in the 15th and 16th
centuries. (fn. 34) Heathcombe or Ford mill was held
by the Towill family for three generations in the
17th century. (fn. 35) They recovered ownership in the
18th, although it was known as Cox's mill after
a former owner. (fn. 36) Before 1838 it became part of
the Tynte estate, but by 1851 it had gone out of
use and had become labourers' cottages. (fn. 37) They
had been demolished by 1953. (fn. 38)
Rooks Castle mill was recorded in 1619. (fn. 39) It
was also known as Gard's mill, after an early
19th-century lessee, and was occupied by a
millwright in 1881. (fn. 40) It was driven by the King's
Cliff stream, and remains of a shaft and an
overshot wheel could be seen in the 1970s. (fn. 41)
Binfords mill, further down the same stream,
was recorded in 1662. (fn. 42) There was no record of
it after 1775. (fn. 43) There may have been a mill
north-west of Fyne Court on the stream that
fills an ornamental canal where fields called
Mellis were recorded in 1838. (fn. 44)
Fairs.
In 1259 John de la Linde, lord of Broomfield manor, received a grant of a three-day fair
at All Saints. (fn. 45) There is no further record of the
fair until 1606 when men from Glastonbury
attended. (fn. 46) A tolsey was recorded in 1665 (fn. 47) and in
1717 the site was let with the profits of the
standings set up at fair time. (fn. 48) Sheep, cows, and
horses were sold there in the mid 18th century
and in 1748 tolls, shared between Broomfield
manor and the Halswell estate, amounted to 27s.
8d. (fn. 49) In the late 18th century the main commodities of the fair, then held on 13 November,
were coarse cloth and cattle, but horses were also
sold. (fn. 50) During the 19th century it declined as a
stock fair and by 1883, when it was last recorded,
it was known for toasted biscuits and cider. (fn. 51) A
small fair may have been held in the 1890s. (fn. 52)
The fair appears to have been held on the Fair
Close or Fair Field, part of Broomfield green
west of the church. (fn. 53)