How land, law, and agriculture shaped modern Britain
This comprehensive history surveys England’s landed interest from the late eighteenth century into the nineteenth, showing how customs, laws, and farming practices intertwined with national change. It mixes narrative with documentary detail to illuminate estates, estates management, and the rules that governed ownership and use of land.
Frame through two broad movements: the germination and growth of new agricultural and legal ideas, and the fruition of these changes in the modern period. The volume also explains how statutes, political shifts, and economic pressures reshaped landholding, mining rights, forestry, and rural life.
- Feudal legacies and land tenure, and how they linger in English history
- How seignorial and popular rights interacted in mining and metal trades
- The transformation of national woodlands and timber policy
- Roads from the Corn Laws to modern agricultural policy and governance
Ideal for readers of agrarian history, economic policy, and students seeking a grounded view of England’s rural past and its legal framework.