Agricultural History Review, Volume 36 Part 2 (1988), pp. 117–131

This is a study of the decision-making process pertaining to the forty-eight demesne furlongs at Wistow, Hunts. Economically, the manor has been regarded as typical of the almost seventy properties comprising Ramsey Abbey. A useful sequence of account rolls for the 1380s-1390s, a detailed list of the furlongs in a manorial inquest of 1252, and a pre-enclosure estate map of 1617 furnish the chief documentation. Quite exceptionally, the compoti indicate sowing patterns parcel by parcel. Hence, the author has been able to trace decision-making with respect to the seeding, rotation, sub-division, and resting of the individual furlongs, and the yields which these choices did and did not facilitate. The analysis brings greater precision, detail, and integration to the topic of cropping strategy. 

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