Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of the estate in which most of the Bishopston farms lay. Sainfoin was also a valuable new fodder crop for
the Gower farmers and was used particularly for sheep.
One of the first people to introduce clover was Mr Lucas of Stouthall, who was a noted improver.
Farmers began by preparing a summer fallow in one of their fields and sowing the clover in August or
September.Iftheanimalswerekeptoffduringthewinterthen,bythefollowingspring,thefieldprovided
arichcrop,muchheavierthanthenormalsward.Ifcutforhaytwiceduringthesummer,cloverwouldlast
for three or four years before giving way to the natural grasses. This autumn sowing, which was one of
two recommended methods of cultivation at that time, was followed until 1739, when, as Walter Davies
(1814-15) noted, 'the great frost of that winter destroyed it on Mr. Lucas's farm at Stout-hall. Mr. Lucas
was deemed one of the first agriculturists of his time; not willing to forego his clover crop for a whole
year, he made an experiment to sow it with barley in the spring; it of course succeeded.' Lucas's neigh-
bours followed his example and clover began to be generally sown with spring crops, barley, oats Avena
spp. and sometimes with beans.
Apart from these developments the pattern of farming remained unchanged. Traditionally both horses
and oxen worked side by side in the fields. In 1840 a Gower farmer recorded in his journal that his spring
ploughing was done by 'four Cattle and two Horses in one plow, and six cattle and a horse in the other'.
The absence of transport produced a system where the animals were walked to market and batches of fat
cattle and sheep were driven to Swansea every Saturday throughout the winter. The summer in contrast
was spent in producing and storing crops for feeding the stock in winter.
WATER MILLS
Although the volume of water flowing along the Gower streams is relatively small it is constant, and this
influenced the locations of the early settlements (Fig. 35). Water mills were once common in the penin-
sula and according to Rice Merrick, writing in 1584, there were 'upon Burry … seven grist mills builded
within a mile space'. It seems likely that the original water-powered grist mills were built at the same
time as the Norman castles. There were undoubtedly water mills in Gower before this period, but it was
the Normans who established the manorial system and set up their 'custom' mills in or near their manors.
These mills were a profitable source of income and all tenants were obliged to grind their corn at the mill
and to assist in its maintenance. The Survey of the Manor of Priorstown in 1642 states these responsibil-
ities clearly:
Tenants …dwelling in the said Lordship ought to grind all such corn growing in the said Lordship
and are to scoure and cleanse the mill ditch and water courses that runneth to turn the same …
they are to yield and pay the miller for the time being, the twentieth part of the bushel or of any
other quantity of wheat, rye or barley in meal … and they are to repair and keep the head of the
millhouseasoftenasneedshallrequire ofthatch,sothatthetimberbesufficient toholdthesame.
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