Landlord's Capital Formation in East Anglia, 1750–1870

Abstract

T tHE installation and maintenance of the landlord's capital in agriculture provide us with the readiest access to the complex problem of agricultural capital formation in Britain at any period. There inevitably remains some material evidence of changes in the tangible fixed equipment of farmingbuildings, drains, roads, or fences, which together make up the landlord's capital-if only as archaeological survivals; although not enough research has yet been undertaken on the dating and construction of farmyards and buildings, other than houses, in Britain, except in some regions where farmsteads were replanned and rebuilt after enclosure.2 The chief source of detailed, reliable information, however, is the estate rentals and accounts from particular periods to be found in record offices all over Britain, which illustrate this aspect of capital formation in agriculture as no other evidence can. Some idea of the difficulties involved in such an inquiry may be obtained from reading recent writers on the subject. After a century of more or less elaborate agricultural statistics, the evidence of capital investment in, and the durability of, tangible equipment such as farm buildings or drains is still very deficient.3 This article is intended as a pilot study, consisting largely of an inquiry into such expenditure upon repairs and improvements to the fixed equipment of farms as can be found in the estate records of a particular region, East Anglia. It illustrates all too clearly the limitations of such an analysis for historical research, but the writer hopes it will provide a basis for discussion, especially since it throws into relief the most important problems involved.