Agricultural History Review, Volume 41 Part 2 (1993), pp. 124–136

Evidence of settlement contraction in the form of earthworks marking abandoned house sites is to be found throughout England, yet the tinting and causes of village shrinkage have received only limited attention from historians. This article explores the extent of settlement contraction in the East Riding of Yorkshire between the mid-seventeenth and mid-eighteenth centuries. Nationally this was a period when population stagnation coincided with urban expansion suggesting widespread rural depopulation. Using detailed documentary material relating to individual setdements, the possible causes of contraction are explored, and a link between landownership patterns and contraction is established. 

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