FARMING in TRUNCH
Contents of this page
1. Medieval open field farming
2. Enclosure
3. 1830s Swing Riots
4. Who owned the land?
5. 20th. Century Unionisation
6. 20th. Century changes
1. Medieval open field farming
2. Enclosure
3. 1830s Swing Riots
4. Who owned the land?
5. 20th. Century Unionisation
6. 20th. Century changes
Trunch has always been a farming village and in terms of acreage of the parish it still is. There have been many changes over the centuries. In early times most of the villagers would have been farmers. Large open fields would have been divided into strips which were shared between villagers and where wheat, rye, oats, peas and beans were grown. After 1066 some of the strips would have been farmed for the Manor and the Church.
Gradually strips were consolidated and enclosed by hedges and as the villagers lost their own land they had to work as labourers for the richer land owners. In her book, Cristabel Hoare says that she can see clear signs of the old North, South and West open fields on the Tithe Map. Interestingly now that many of the old hedges have been removed to enable the use of large modern farm machinery the fields probably look more like the large open fields of Medieval times.
Another change that took place was that villagers lost their rights to graze their animals on common land and to collect timber from local woods. One of the main complaints of rioters in Kett's Rebellion in 1549 was the enclosure of common land by wealthy land owners.
The result of all of these changes was that by the 1800s most of the land in Trunch was owned and farmed by a few rich individuals and the majority of men (and some of the boys) were working as farm labourers. Increasingly these workers became dissatisfied with their low wages and high cottage rents, as well as the lessening of poor relief and the introduction of the new threshing machines. This led to the "Swing Riots" in the 1830s which were called this because the labourers sent threatening letters to farmers which were signed by the mythical "Captain Swing". In this area barns and corn stacks were burnt and threshing machines were attacked. In November 1830 the North Walsham magistrates recommended that land owners should discontinue the use of threshing machines and increase the labourers' wages to ten shillings a week, as they thought that this would prevent rioting.
So far I have found one reference in a newspaper to this time in Trunch.
The Times July 28th. 1831
At Norwich on July 26 Robert NEAL was indicted for setting fire to the stacks of Mr
PRIMROSE a farmer at Trunch.The only evidence to connect the prisoner with the
offence was that of his being seen coming in a direction leading from the fire which broke
out about the same time; but he was not near enough to afford any inference of his having
been at the stacks. He had been heard to say the day before that “Primroses stacks would
soon be all of blaze” He was acquitted but sentenced to 7 years transportation for a
felony of which he had been previously convicted.
The Times July 28th. 1831
At Norwich on July 26 Robert NEAL was indicted for setting fire to the stacks of Mr
PRIMROSE a farmer at Trunch.The only evidence to connect the prisoner with the
offence was that of his being seen coming in a direction leading from the fire which broke
out about the same time; but he was not near enough to afford any inference of his having
been at the stacks. He had been heard to say the day before that “Primroses stacks would
soon be all of blaze” He was acquitted but sentenced to 7 years transportation for a
felony of which he had been previously convicted.
Land ownership - Land taxes were implemented in Britain from 1692 - 1963 and the records show who owned the land and sometimes who the occupiers were as well. I have found the list for 1798 and Brian Margetson has kindly sent me the ones for 1827 - 1832. Also in 1839 the tithe map key gives very detailed information about owners, occupiers and size of holdings. Later in 1873 there was a survey of land owners - sometimes called The New Domesday. Everyone who owned over an acre of land in Norfolk is listed on the following site. 1873 returns Land in Trunch was owned by William Primrose as well as - Lord Suffield, Sir J Preston and Sir T F Buxton. Click here for more details - Land ownership in Trunch
In the late 1800s farm workers went on strike for an increase in wages and in 1895 it was reported that all of the labourers on the principal farms of Trunch had turned out. They tried to form unions to improve their lot but these were short lived until July 1906 at the Angel Hotel in North Walsham when the Eastern Counties Agricultural Labourers Union was formed. Trunch men joined the Union and in 1910 when the farmers asked them to work for an extra hour a day with no extra pay, they went on strike. Labourers were brought in from other areas but as no one in the village would house them, the farmers had to provide accommodation.
The following is an extract from the autobiography of George Edwards, the founder of the Union
The struggle continued all the summer, and I don't think any of the men suffered a penny loss. All the applicants for small holdings and several of the men who had been locked out became tenants in October on the very farm on which they had been locked out a few months before. All of them were allowed to keep in their houses, so that we were able to find work elsewhere for those that could not take any land. Thus in this district, although the dispute lasted over six months, we won a notable victory and its effects are felt today, for the Trunch Branch is one of the largest branches in the Union and Mr. Harvey, their first branch secretary, is still their secretary, and is today a member of the Norfolk County Council and a Justice of the Peace. In this district we have a fine type of Norfolk labourers.
Click here for the full text of George Edward's autobiography
The struggle continued all the summer, and I don't think any of the men suffered a penny loss. All the applicants for small holdings and several of the men who had been locked out became tenants in October on the very farm on which they had been locked out a few months before. All of them were allowed to keep in their houses, so that we were able to find work elsewhere for those that could not take any land. Thus in this district, although the dispute lasted over six months, we won a notable victory and its effects are felt today, for the Trunch Branch is one of the largest branches in the Union and Mr. Harvey, their first branch secretary, is still their secretary, and is today a member of the Norfolk County Council and a Justice of the Peace. In this district we have a fine type of Norfolk labourers.
Click here for the full text of George Edward's autobiography
Farm workers' wages rose until after the First World War, when they started to fall again and there was a 6 week strike in Norfolk in 1923, that involved thousands of workers. Arthur Amis recalls the Union meetings in the Crown and the fact that as a boy working he had said "I'm in the Union" to his employer and that had prevented a cut in his wages.
The history of the Agricultural Workers Union in Norfolk was recorded by Reg Groves in his 1949 book "Sharpen the Sickle".
The history of the Agricultural Workers Union in Norfolk was recorded by Reg Groves in his 1949 book "Sharpen the Sickle".
Detailed descriptions of farm work in Trunch in the early 20th. Century are given in the Trunch books by Arthur Amis and Joan Bain. The main changes since then have been the decline in the number of farm workers, horses, other animals, and fields of oats and the increase in machinery and field sizes. Harold Hicks was interviewed for the Book "The Death of Rural England" (see bibliography) and he says that Mr. May was one of the first in the area to have a tractor in the late 1920s. He also recalled how his father bought Brick Kiln farm in 1919 and how his brothers returned from Canada to work on the farm and how they diversified to survive in the 1930s. Photographs of the farmhouses and the names of some of the farmers can be found by clicking on the agricultural buildings page.
There is also a Farm Services Company in Trunch based at Howards Close near the bottom of Brewery Road.