Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Debates about underdraining
- 2 The need for underdraining in the nineteenth century
- 3 The intensity and location of underdraining, 1845–1899
- 4 The temporal pattern of underdraining in the nineteenth century
- 5 Capital provision and the management of the improvement
- 6 The success of underdraining as an agricultural improvement
- 7 Findings about underdraining
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Debates about underdraining
- 2 The need for underdraining in the nineteenth century
- 3 The intensity and location of underdraining, 1845–1899
- 4 The temporal pattern of underdraining in the nineteenth century
- 5 Capital provision and the management of the improvement
- 6 The success of underdraining as an agricultural improvement
- 7 Findings about underdraining
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The theme of land drainage has long attracted the attention of historians and historical geographers alike. However, the compass of the theme is broad and, from the nineteenth century, recognition has been made of distinct, component parts of the process. J. Bailey Denton, writing in 1861, suggested a fourfold schema of land drainage that still holds currency: the drainage and reclamation of fenland and marshland; the control and management of rivers in their valleys; the provision and maintenance of ditches and minor watercourses; and the underdraining of farmland. The last stage of this classification forms the subject-matter of this book. The study considers the need for and spread of underdraining in England in the nineteenth century; examines the technical and economic factors in the adoption of the improvement; and assesses the impact of underdraining on agricultural practice in that period.
In writing this book, great reliance has been placed on data derived from records of estates and of the loans for underdraining made by the government and various land-improvement companies in the nineteenth century. The gathering of such material was facilitated by the detailed knowledge and kindness of the archivists and staff of the county record offices at Exeter, Newcastle upon Tyne and Northampton, of the Department of Palaeography and Diplomatic of Durham University, and of the Public Record Office. I owe special thanks to P. I. King, R. M. Gard and J. Fewster for directing me to relevant and often uncatalogued manuscript collections. However, this account could not have been produced without the generosity and co-operation of owners of private collections of manuscripts.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989