Agricultural History Review, Volume 52 Part 2 (2004), p. 218

Margaret Shepherd’s book provides a useful addition to the growing corpus of studies on rural areas in the nineteenth century. The monograph is based on an upland area in northern England and, as such, is to be welcomed given the relative paucity of research in this particular field. The book strongly merits its place as thesecond volume in the University of Hertfordshire’s Regional and Local History series. It places its local in-depth study of change in the upper Eden valley firmlyin a regional setting and, where necessary, also provides detailed analysis of events at the regional level of Cumbria.

Dr Shepherd draws on a wealth of primary source evidence for her study, using as a starting point the census enumerators books for 1841 to 1891. It would have been useful if the period had been extended to 1901 to take advantage of the latest census information and toprovide a wider perspective on events throughout thewhole of the Victorian period. However, there is areason for the termination date. The investigation of the topic started as research towards a PhD which wasawarded in 1992. Apart from not utilizing the 1901 census, generally the work has been satisfactorily updated since 1992. This is particularly the case in respect of secondary source material. However, there are some surprising, though albeit minor omissions of references to scholarly debate. These include, for example Nicola Verdon’s recent work on the role of women in agriculture.

As to be expected from the title, the book covers a number of topics. It ranges competently and confidently through an overview of the economy of north Westmorland to the detail of agricultural change. In addition to the economic topics which consume three of the five history review core chapters, the study also spends some time examining social change and migration. In the chapter on theeconomy, the towns of the area have been usefully grouped according to economic type. This results in a clearer insight into the significance of change in the upper Edenvalley. In the detailed agricultural section all the expected topics are found, from landownership and occupancy to land use and the labourer.

The book provides a mass of detail which very occasionally results in a density of prose that affects the clarity of the points under discussion. Despite the fact that the bibliography demonstrates extensive reading around the subject, in a few places, and particularly in the first part of the book, the study tends to be rather myopic. More reference to academic debate on the particular topic and situating the upper Eden experience within that debate would have been helpful. For example, the chapter conclusions could have included some assessment of the typicality or otherwise of the findings. This approach is taken to good effect later in the book in the very clear sections on the employment of women and children. In her analysis of women’s occupations, Dr Shepherd draws findings from other areas, acknowledges the problems of calculating the extent and type of female work and makes useful conclusions as she disaggregates her own research into an interesting analysis of the work patterns of single, widowed, and married women. Similarly, where she forays into research on Cumbria for the transport and communication chapter, the resultant information is fascinating as she details the linkages in the region and then beyond.

The section on social and cultural activities ranges widely and covers many aspects of society and civic life. Despite Dr Shepherd’s caveat of not enough space to cover all aspects, her handling of education, religion, friendly societies, freemasonry and the temperance movement is detailed and informative. The final chapter on migration does an admirable job of examining the distance travelled, the different types of destinations and the levels of in- and outflow, though here it would have been particularly interesting to have seen some analysis based on the 1901 census.

In her conclusion, Dr Shepherd notes that, as has been discovered in similar studies, immense differences of experience can be identified between neighbouring parishes and it is unhelpful to use a single parish as a paradigm for a region. She also concludes that, while the upper Eden valley effectively deindustrialized during the period under study, it did not return totally to the pre-industrial experience. Finally, she acknowledges that the arrival of the railway had a significant impact on the changes taking place in the area.

The study is well supported by maps, tables, photographs and indexes and is accompanied by detailed footnotes. The breadth and depth of research, albeit for a rather limited period, means that the book will be of great interest to both those interested in Cumbria as well as the specific area of the upper Eden valley. Further, despite the few minor reservations noted above, the book is of immense value to the researcher of the Victorian period who wishes to gain an insight into the extent of change in a remote upland rural area during a period of industrial and social upheaval.