29. Agriculture

From early times and through the middle ages up to the end of the 18th century, the majority of the people of Sutton must have worked on the land. I have mentioned elsewhere the three field system and several other field names. Under their system of subsistence agriculture the crops produced were more varied than at present. Everything they needed had to be grown in their district.

Because of this, crops were often grown in unsuitable soil. Also there was no attempt to make the soil produce to its greatest capacity the particular crop to which is was suited. If this had been done it would have meant a surplus, of which they had no means of disposing, of one crop, and a scarcity, which they had no means of supplementing, of others. Their aim was therefore to make their land produce enough of all the different crops they used to enable them to live.

The field names of the township show us some of the crops grown. These include the usual Oak, Corn, Rye and Wheat Fields. Also others not so common - Hemp Butts, Pease Butts and Beam Lands are found. Two very unusual names are Shaffron Ing (saffron is a yellow dye from crocus) and Bricks Liquorice Field