Agricultural History Review, Volume 37 Part 1 (1989), pp. 12–25

This paper studies the influence and scale of pastoral farming in the economy of the Forest of Arden in the Later Middle Ages. It seeks to determine the numbers and types of animals kept and demonstrate how the profits of pastoral farming benefited a number of social groups in the region. Many demesnes were retained by their resident lords to graze cattle to feed their households while the fattening of beef animals for the market afforded scope for social and economic advancement by peasant families. This emphasis on animal husbandry encouraged the cultivation of hay and fodder crops in turn helping to bolster the arable economy in the area. 

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