ECONOMIC HISTORY.
There were four ploughs
working the demesne at Edgeworth in 1086. (fn. 2) In
1342 the estate of Walter Helion, which comprised
two parts of the manor, had 60 a. of arable, 3 a. of
meadow, and 2 a. of pasture in demesne. (fn. 3) The
extent of demesne in the later Middle Ages is not
known. In 1604 the demesne farm was worked by a
tenant, Francis Marsh of Ewen, in Kemble. (fn. 4)
The two freemen with estates at Edgeworth in
1086 were working two teams and a further two
were worked by the tenants of the manorial estate,
four villani and two bordars. (fn. 5) The freehold estates
are not recorded later nor are the conditions of
tenure of the customary estates, but the customary
dues of the tenants on the Westwood estate of
Cirencester Abbey are known. Tenants could not
secure a daughter's marriage without licence from
the lord, and heriots, pannage, and a toll on brewing
were owed. In the 13th century some works, due on
three days each week for a ½-yardlander, had been
commuted for money payments, and tenants could
be asked to travel to Gloucester, Tetbury, or
Cirencester at the abbot's command. There were
five tenants c. 1230 at Westwood, four of whom held
½ yardlands, (fn. 6) and the same number of tenants were
recorded in 1540 when their rents amounted to
31s. (fn. 7) Tenants on the estate were holding by copy in
the 16th century. (fn. 8)
There were two open fields at Edgeworth, North
field and South field (fn. 9) (also called West field); (fn. 10) the
former covered land on both sides of the road to
Gloucester and the latter occupied the land
between the paths from Edgeworth to Bisley and
from Edgeworth to Westwood. In the later 17th
century the arable in the open fields was usually
farmed in strips of 1 a. (fn. 11) but the fields were inclosed
by private agreement before 1719. (fn. 12) Some small
parcels of land in the Tunley fields in Bisley
belonged to Edgeworth (fn. 13) which probably received
the detached portion of 15 a. instead when Tunley
was inclosed. (fn. 14) In the early 14th century there was a
dispute between the abbot of Cirencester and Alice
Helion over the rights of the free tenants of Edgeworth to common pasture, (fn. 15) of which 200 a. were
recorded in 1419. (fn. 16)
Since inclosure the amount of arable farming
in the parish has diminished; in 1801 456 a. were
recorded as under tillage not including the fallow
land. (fn. 17) The amount of arable remained steady until
1839 when 958 a. were recorded (fn. 18) but between that
date and 1901 the acreage of arable land almost
halved to 487 a. Most of the land had been converted
to grassland but there was also an increase of over
100 a. in woodland and plantation, (fn. 19) primarily
explained by the establishment of park-land around
the manor-house. (fn. 20) There were three farms of over
330 a. in 1839, one of 153 a., one of 130 a., of which
half was woodland, the glebe farm of 42 a., and three
smaller holdings. The larger farms, which concentrated on arable farming, were on the high ground,
and the pasture and wood were in the valleys. (fn. 21)
The number of farms declined during the 19th
century due to centralization, and in 1871 the two
largest farms were united to form a unit of 615 a. (fn. 22)
At the sale of the estate in the 1930s some of the
tenants bought their farms.
There was a mill recorded at Edgeworth in
1086 (fn. 23) which descended with the manor until the
later 13th century when Stephen of Edgeworth
granted it with some land to Gloucester Abbey. (fn. 24) The
abbey owned the mill and a small estate until the
Dissolution when Richard Clissale was the tenant. (fn. 25)
The Crown granted a lease of the mill in 1553, and
in 1557 the reversion was granted to James Dolle
who also received the adjacent manor of Duntisbourne Abbots. (fn. 26) The mill descended with that
manor until the mid 17th century (fn. 27) but by 1719 it
was part of Edgeworth manor. In 1751 it was
granted to Anne Ridler (fn. 28) and it later descended with
her part of the estate. In the mid 19th century it was
a grist-mill with two pairs of stones and had a bakehouse adjoining, (fn. 29) and by 1885 steam-power had
been introduced. (fn. 30) The mill, which stands on the
Frome north-east of the village, ceased to function
in 1931 (fn. 31) and the buildings had been converted for
use as a farm-house by 1971; the mill-pond had
been filled in but the weir and small overspill pond
remained. The buildings are of rubble and possibly
date in part from the 17th century.
Employment in the parish has been dominated by
agricultural activity; in the early 17th century a
miller and a tailor were recorded but the rest of the
labour force were household servants or worked the
land. (fn. 32) A mason was recorded in 1711. (fn. 33) A century
later only one family was employed outside agriculture, (fn. 34) probably that of the shopkeeper recorded
in 1817. (fn. 35) A stonemason was recorded in the mid
19th century, and a plasterer in 1889, and blacksmiths and shopkeepers were recorded at various
dates after 1856. (fn. 36)