Blidworth like many othervillages had a system whereby a breck was created in the forest and over aperiod of seven years various rotation of crops were planted. After seven yearsthe land was left to revert to its wild state and another breck was created.Everybody had a parcel(s) of land in each field. Together with the use ofcommon ground and forest the villagers managed to grow enough food to sustain afamily. The individual villager worked his own ground, plus so many daysworking for the squire, 1/10th. of his produce and animals werehanded over to the Church.Blidworth and surroundingdistrict had two Acts of Parliament bringing in the Enclosure Acts of 1769 and1812. The terms of enclosure included making roads to be 60 feet in width, allbridges, gates, and stiles had to be kept open. The land apportioned had to befenced within nine months with quick thorn or the land had to be forfeited. There was to be no grazing of the roadsides for seven years. The poor were tohave the trees, shrubs and bushes on the common land for fuel for the firstnine months after the award.
The Commissionersexamined all claims to land and notice of the examination meetings were giventwo weeks in advance at Divine Service in the Parish Church . The cost of the commission had to be shared according to the acreage awarded. Subsequently many small holders could not afford to fence or meet theirapportioned share of the expenses and lost their land. The independence of thevillagers was compromised and they had to rely on wages as farm labourers,their only means of livelihood. In 1838-40 a farm labourer’s wage was twoshillings a day, much of the work was casual and seasonal.
Many left the villages towork in the mines, ironworks,town factories, navvying on the new railroad, and many others emigrated. It is reportedthat 43,000 people per year left thecountry between 1831 and 1841 to try and regain in other countries, theownership of land lost to them in Great Britain .The rate book of 1842 forBlidworth shows who lived where and who owned what. Many of the field namesindicated to whom they belonged, many of the local public-house landlords arefound to be farmers owning large plots of farmland.
We would like toacknowledge the article written by Mrs Sheila Stokes and donated to the HistorySociety and part re-produced above andentries abstracted from various books written by W.Richards, J.C.Whitworth andW.Wild. We thank also Philip Jones for his help.
Our project is basedusing three Ordnance Survey Maps- 1. 1840 Cassini Historical Map of Mansfield and Worksop Scale 1:50,000 2. 1974 Mansfield and The Dukeries Sheet 120 Scale 1:50,000 3. 2008 Sherwood Forest Explorer Map. Scale 1:25,000
The area of our projectis a three mile radius taken from Three Ways Junction in Blidworth.This six milescircumference takes in:
North- Northern border ofthe old Rufford Mine in Rainworth. South- Southern border ofSansom Wood, Longdale Lane ,Ravenshead. East- Just short of Farnsfield village close tothe 30 mph speed restriction in Mansfield Road . West- Taking in part of Thieves Wood and HaggnookWood, Ravenshead.
List of designated farmscontained in the 1840 Cassini Historical Map.
1. Longland Farm, Longland Lane , Farnsfield. 2. BaulkerFarm, Baulker Lane ,Farnsfield. 3. HaywoodOaks, Haywood Oaks Lane, Blidworth. 4. CombsFarms, Combs Lane, Farnsfield. 5. FarBaulker Farm, Old Rufford Road , Oxton. 6. Sykebreck Farm, Blidworth Lane , 7. GrangeFarm, Ollerton Road , Oxton. 8. Archer’sWater Farm, off Blidworth Lane , 9. MoorlandsFarm, Ollerton Road , Oxton. 10. LittleTithe Farm, Blidworth Lane, Calverton. 11. BartonFarm, off Old Rufford Road , 12. SpringFarm, Salterford Lane , Calverton. 13. BigTithe Farm, Old Rufford Road , Calverton. 14. Salterford Farm, Whinbush Lane , Calverton. 15. Sansom Wood Farm, Ollerton Road , Calverton. 16. Beanford Farm, Beanford Lane , Calverton.
Intention. Ideally we wouldlike to contact the occupants of each farm on the 2008 detail. From them we wouldlike to ascertain as much information as they are willing to divulge,particularly the following points:
1. Howlong have they had the farm? 2. Whattype of farm is it- whether it be arable, livestock orother. 3. Acreage. 4. Whatchanges have there been in farming practices during their occupancy of thefarm.
Once we havecompleted our survey our intention is to visit the Nottinghamshire ArchivesOffice and delve deeper into the history of individual farms. We wouldappreciate any feedback from this article, whether it beto point out errors or to add information that may help us to draw a picture offarming in the Blidworth area. Any photographs of thefarms in the 2008 detail that we could loan, scan and return would beappreciated.
