Agricultural History Review, Volume 54 Part 2 (2006), pp. 187–212

The bishops of Winchester possessed the richest and by far and away best-documented estate in medieval England. This article examines demesne agriculture on part of its estates and that of a related estate in the same area: the Cathedral Priory at Winchester. Together these two estates show some of the characteristics of the great estates of southern England and particularly of the great chalkland manors: mixed farming characterised by large sheep flocks and late leasing of the demesne. But while the two estates show much in common, they also show subtle variations in the chronology of demesne shrinkage and in the emphasis given to different crops and livestock. Some of these variations may be ascribed to the differing nature of the household that the estate supported, while for others the explanations for the variation in managerial policy are less clear. 

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