Although industry was not important in eleventh-century England, we might expect to hear more of it than we do. Even so, the fragments of information that are available provide hints of that fuller picture we can never have. In the first place, there were the extractive industries providing raw material for salt-making, iron-working and lead-working. There were also the ‘agricultural industries’ of grain-milling and the making of wine and honey. Then there was fishing both in rivers and at sea. Finally some other non-agricultural activities are revealed by a few miscellaneous references.

SALT-MAKING

Salt was an indispensable item in the economy of the Middle Ages, especially for the preservation of meat and fish to be eaten during the winter. Rock salt was not discovered in Britain until 1670 during explorations for coal at a depth of about 100 feet near Northwich in Cheshire. Before then, salt was obtained by evaporation either from inland brine springs or from sea water.

Inland brine springs

The inland centres of production were in Worcestershire and Cheshire, and the brine springs were derived from the Keuper Marl beds of the Triassic system. The Worcestershire industry was centred on the borough of Droitwich for which brine-pits (putei) and salt-pans (salinae) are recorded; we also hear of mysterious hocci, the meaning of which is not clear.