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‘Knowledge networks in rural Europe since 1700’ (27- 29 August 2014), the Interfaculty Centre for

Agrarian History (ICAG), University of Leuven.

Participant

Dr. James P. Bowen, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Geography and Planning,

University of Liverpool. Email: j.p.bowen@liverpool.ac.uk.

This working paper arises from an ongoing three-year project entitled: ‘Spaces of experience and

horizons of expectation: the implications of extreme weather events, past, present and future’, funded by

the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which began in December 2013 and involves

researchers based at the Universities of Nottingham, Glasgow, Aberystwyth and Liverpool. The project

investigates extreme weather events in the United Kingdom since 1700 up to the present day, and also

projects into the future. Further information can be found at

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/weather-extremes/weather-extremes/weather-

extremes.aspx.

Paper title

The diffusion of knowledge concerning weather and climate in the British Isles since 1700 with reference

to the practice of agriculture and everyday rural life.

Introduction

Historians have long acknowledged the importance of weather events and climate in the past, such as

the ‘Little Ice Age’ of c.1550-1850 during which the British economy went into periods of recession, but

also when the agricultural and industrial revolutions began. Consideration has been given to the climatic

context within which historical events and processes have taken place and the importance of climate as an

exogenous factor in contributing to harvest failure, resulting in the flooding of areas of reclaimed wetland,

determining the extent of cultivated land or giving rise to periods of dearth and famine. There is a clear

relationship between weather and climate and a range of historical themes including demographic change,

industrial development and agriculture, the latter being fundamentally influenced by climate, geology, the

pattern of weather and the time of the year dictating the timing of harvests or the dates by which livestock

were traditionally pastured. An understanding of weather was thus of fundamental importance to rural

communities engaged predominantly in agriculture. This paper explores local perspectives of weather and

climate in the British Isles since 1700 and the diffusion of knowledge with reference to the practice of

agriculture and everyday rural life. It considers how knowledge of weather and climate was disseminated

and by what means. For instance through farmers diaries, weather diaries or logs, parish records, estate or

family records and other hand-written documentary sources; books, journals and papers, society records,

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travel accounts and contemporary literature, such as, the Board of Agricultural Reports or General Views,

and lastly folklore.

I want to consider the following research questions: To what extent did the weather influence

agricultural change? How did farmers respond to weather events? What impact did extreme weather have

on the practice of agriculture and everyday rural life? Were changes in weather and climate an important

factor in providing the impetus for developments in farming practices? How was knowledge of weather

and climate disseminated amongst the farming community?

The pattern of weather and climate in the British Isles since 1700

To briefly summarise, since 1700 the climate of the British Isles has remained broadly stable. There

was a prevalence of colder winters in the seventeenth century (1607, 16, 32, 58, 76, 83-4-5) with a

reoccurrence from 1740 onwards. Also there were groups of hot drought and warm summers between

1772-83 and 1809-18 respectively. There has been a tendency toward milder winters from 1850, and

since 1930 there has been an appreciable increase in average spring, summer and autumn temperatures.

An example of how weather affected agriculture in Wales is the impact of the severe weather of the

years 1816-8 (the timing of which coincides with the eruption of Mount Tambora volcano in south-east

Asia) when following the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), the plight of agriculturalists

worsened as corn prices dramatically halved despite the efforts of parliament through the Corn Laws to

maintain prices.1 Many upland farmers in Wales gave up growing corn and even in more arable-

orientated areas farmers felt the impact, estates and landowners subsequently experiencing an increase in

rent arrears. Another interesting case study is the winter of 1946-7 when Britain experienced snowstorms

and extreme winter conditions made worse by an energy shortage. Many rural communities were cut off

for weeks during which time large numbers of livestock died.

There has been a tendency to view the exploration of weather and climate from a historiographical

perspective in terms of the debate about environmental determinism. However, I want to suggest that

historical research forms an important part of the overall study of weather and climate change both in

identifying periods of unusual weather and extreme events and even minor changes in climate; in

investigating the scale of impact and the nature of human responses to these events and the way in which

time and place specific contexts may have influenced both impact and response; in examining how

individual and community responses to climate variability, including the recording and recollection of

events have varied over the course of recent centuries; and lastly, in exploring how social memory of and

adaptions to past events may have influenced perceptions of relative resilience and vulnerability.

1 J. Davies, A History of Wales (London, Penguin, 2007), p. 345.

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Sources: Weather and climate

For the purpose of this paper, I would like to explore a series of primary sources which have emerged

strongly from my research to date. Discussion is divided into two parts. The first part examine diaries,

parish records and other documentary evidence to consider how knowledge of past weather events was

recorded. The second part considers the role of agricultural societies, farmers clubs and contemporary

literature in disseminating knowledge of weather and climate pertinent to agriculture and rural life in

Britain.

Part 1: Diaries, parish records and other documentary evidence from the seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries.

Diaries and farm accounts provide unique insight not only into the practice of agriculture, but also

weather and climate and the effects it had on farmers. For example, the farm accounts of the Reverend

John Crakanthorp of Fowlemere, Cambridgeshire, dating from 1682 to 1710 which can be augments by

further unpublished material, describe the annual harvests.2 With reference to the incidence of famine in

England during the 1690s, the cause of which is not exclusively but often weather related, Hoyle has

recently used the harvest accounts, pointing out that further work is required to link agricultural

production and specifically the acreage sown to the weather in the locality.3 Similarly, the observations of

Thomas Like of Whitcot Keyes, in hilly south Shropshire between 1691 and 1708, describe periods of

cold, dry, hot, rainy, wet or snowy weather and its effects on the pursuit of agriculture, affecting the

growth of grain and grass and resulting in hardship for pasturing livestock.4 See extracts below:

1700 – ‘So far as I can understand there have not been in a man’s age a more seasonable spring

and summer that this was for there was not at any time so much rain that caused the waters to be

bank full neither was there any want of it which caused all things to be very fruitful and increase

mightily. During the time of hay harvest there was scarcely a lock of hay that lost its colour by ill

weather corn harvest with us was extraordinary good weather as was also the former part of oat

harvest after that some rain did fall but not so to do any great damage. The week following the 14th

of November a small snow covered the ground. Afterwards it was much inclined to wet (though not

to hard rain) till about the middle of Christmas (except a week of cold rainy weather which

followed December the night preceding New Year’s Eve some snow fell which was increased at

several times and continued till January the 10th at which time it went away with a flood and upon

2 P. Brassley, A. Lambert and P. Saunders (eds.), Accounts of the Reverend John Crakanthorp of Fowlmere 1682-1710

(Cambridge, Cambridgeshire Record Society, 1988).

3 R.W. Hoyle, ‘Why was there no crisis in England in the 1690s?’, in R.W. Hoyle (ed.), The Farmer in England, 1650-1980

(Ashgate, Farnham, 2013), pp. 69-100.

4 Meteorological Office Archives, Exeter Z11.E-Z10.B.

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the 14th more snow fell which likewise two days later went away with a flood. January 21st some

more snow fell which continued 8 days and was something deep upon the hills yet it the valleys

below Clunton it melted all and above there was but little. Nevertheless there came sharp frost upon

it which was severe upon the sheep for the time it lasted. There was unkind weather in the months of

February and March (except 2 or 3 pleasant days several times in February) most days especially

in February it spitted with snow till it would cover the ground and then would waste away always

without rain. March 21st it snowed all day and most of the night following which on the morrow

was almost a foot deep upon the face of the earth continuing long till it wasted by the heat of the

sun the ground being about half bare upon our Lady Day.’

1701 - ‘The weather continued dry and frosty our Lady Day until the 15th of April upon which day

in the morning the ground was covered with snow which continued lingering till the 18th without

rain (being Good Friday upon which day there was some storms of rain and hail. The first sign of a

spring which I saw was upon April the 12th before which day I did neither see gulleys upon the

valleys nor buds upon the thorns. Afterwards it continued thus cold and backwards till the middle of

May about which time (as being the best for the country) came an unexpected change of weather

which caused the year to be for grain and grass but little or none inferior to the last. Though in the

lower countries there was but little rain all the summer. Hay harvest was dry till the 17th of July

after which time we had but 1 day wholly dry for a month yet from 3 or 4 or 6 miles below us there

was scarcely any rain at all. Corn and oat harvest was very dry. The week following October 3rd

was very blustering with rain yet some few days after it was very fine weather for a fortnight.

November the 3rd it snowed, which lasted 2 days and was followed by continual wet weather till

March. I am sure there was not 6 days without rain before Candlemas and of them not 2 together

(except the week next before Christmas which was dry frost). There was the highest wind upon

Christmas Day that have been known since Cromwell died. Most days between that and Candlemas

there being also very high wind (between South and West). In February likewise there were but few

dry days the last especially being extraordinary stormy there was some snow upon the upper

ground almost a week together next after Candlemas from the first till the 24th of March was as

fine dry hot weather as ever I know at that time of year without sharp frosts.’

1702 – ‘This spring before the end of March being forwards was with cold and for want of rain so

afterwards that it was everywhere as bad a year as ever I know. Though I think there was as much

with us as there was anywhere in England. Hay harvest was dry enough to make that little that was

upon the ground the rest of the harvest was very good (except 2 or 3 days following the 14th of

August, 3 or 4 days in the beginning and about a week in the middle of September which was at the

later end of harvest). The middlemost half of the month of October would sometimes affright us with

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cold storms of rain and snow the country being so meanly provided with fodder. About the last 9

days of October and the first 2 of November were pleasant weather. From that time till the 10th of

January there was not so much as one pleasant day it being a mixture of rain frost and snow with a

continuance of neither sort without other scarcely for 3 days together during that time; from about

the 20th of February till almost out Lady Day we had constant dry weather sometimes with frost

sometimes without.’

1703 – ‘This year the season was indifferent backwards till the 19th of May from which day till the

27th of June there was not above 3 or 4 days wholly dry then suddenly changing there was such

excellent weather till the 11th of September that neither a grass cock of hay nor a sheaf of grain

was at any time wet through. Afterwards it was indifferent seasonable sometimes pure dry &

sometimes wet till the 24th of October after which followed a fortnight of as pleasant weather as

might be. But then fell some sleet which soon turned to rain and continued daily raining till 2 or 3

days within December and afterwards much till Candlemas within which time the west or south

west wind was very high and did great hurt several times but most especially November 26th at

night (there being then a very great flood) that the winds was so high for 7 or 8 hours that the south

part of England received. Such damage that they never felt nor rarely heard of the like before.

Bristol was said to be damnified 150,000f. Exeter 20,000f. London without computation. Besides

the loss at sea and in the havens amongst the Rest Admiral Beaumont with his whole squadron were

cast away. The month of February was mostly dry weather. But from that time till the 9th of April

following it was extraordinary wet weather. There was scarcely any snow stick half a day upon the

lower ground this winter. I did not hear of one hare being killed by tracing it. The corn promised

fair on the ground all the spring yet proved light when it came to be handled at harvest. There was

not a piece to be seen or heard of which proved very strong and scarcely any yielded above 2 for

the thrave. Lent grain also yielded not well. Wheat bare rate mostly between 3/- & 3/6. Rye under

2/6. Oates gave at Ludlow 15 or 16d before harvest. Barely might have been bought about St.

Lukestide for 14 or 15d. But afterwards it was mostly between 18d and 21d. Peas about the same

rate but at the later end of the year most sort of grain gave 6d the strike more than it did since

harvest. Swine continued extraordinary plentiful and cheap. Oxen gave money very well till

Michaelmas but were cheaper afterwards.’

1704 – ‘The weather taking in dry on the 9th of April it was so hot (to admiration) for nine days

together as it was used to be at any time in the hottest summer so that the thorn which were bare

before had broad leaves in 2 days’ time. The grass likewise did spring extraordinary fast. It

afterwards continued mostly dry (though not so hot) till the 17th of May upon which day in the

afternoon there fell with us constant rain but between Lingen and Leominster in Herefordshire such

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hail was said to fall that spoiled a great deal of corn in their fields so that they were forced to mow

it therefrom. From June the 9th till the 13th it was so cold as it has been many times at Christmas.

Hay harvest was excellent dry and the weather afterwards was suitable enough to the time of the

year till winter which yet also was extremely mild. Only there was 1 week of very rainy weather

about the latter end of November or the beginning of December. As far snow there was scarcely

enough to trace a hare at any time this winter unless 2 or 3 times at the latter part of March which

did not stay but a little while after it fell.’

1705 – ‘There was never known a greater crop of rye and wheat than was this year which because

of the very dry weather at before harvest was very fruitful and good. The best rye before harvest

was sold for 2/6 the strike and after it rarely for 2/- some black rye being sold sometimes for 17 or

18d. Pease grew best of all lent grain they bare rate about 3/-. Barley in the spring rarely exceeded

2/- but afterwards it rose and fell price between 2 & 3 shillings. The lent brain (because of the hot

weather) was so short and also thin upon the ground that it was but a very little quantity as I rode

towards London upon the 7th of November I saw by West Wickham a field of corn then ready to ear

as good and rank as ever I saw any in the spring. I suppose it was shed at harvest and ploughed

and probably sowed with turnip seed as I saw several pieces afterwards with turnips and ¼ crops of

corn which I was told was done so. Apples, pears and hops almost generally failed this year. There

was never so much hampering of cattle and less selling of them which caused poor farmers

condition to be deplorable. Only there was a great many ewes bought at a low rate and drove to

Essex.’

1706 – ‘The spring was in its season this year, timelier than it had been for many years before. And

as for the weather there was much rain in the month of May as afterwards, upon the 13th and 14th

of July there was so much that caused a flood which. did a great deal of damage in Wales, or else

the weather was very seasonable till the 24th of August when a rainy season began which endured

almost a month, warned backward husbands (by their loss) to be more forward next year. Upon the

24th of October there was as great a flood as I have seen on Clun River. Upon the 10th of

December some snow fell which stayed unwasted about 3 Days. The night before and January the

2nd was extraordinary sort which caused a flood. There was in general much rain between the 25th

of August and Candlemas. In all which time it is observable the wind was never Between South and

West; North West & North.’

1707 – ‘There was scarcely anything remarkable in this year and therefore shall pass on to the

next, only with observing yet the corn was not so good in the crop in this country as it was in the

lower country and that grain gave about the same price as last year and that the summer was

mostly dry weather especially the spring.’

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1708 – ‘The fodder being mostly spent in the beginning of April and the country full of cattle and so

much rain in the last winter caused people to fear it would be a bad year of grass this summer. But

Almighty God who always provides for our necessities caused it to be otherwise for it was almost

continually dropping weather all the spring. August the 5th extraordinary great rain fell with very

terrible lightning and thunder August the 18th another bad afternoon and part of the night of rain

and from 29th there was rain every day and a great deal most days for three weeks together which.

Happening the maintine of harvest did a vast deal of damage to the country but most particularly

upon September the 15th there was the greatest flood that ever was known in the memory of man,

except one snow flood which was 34 or 35 years ago that was about equal with this. But before

Michaelmas it pleased God to grant us good weather for some time. October 12th 13th and 14th

some snow stuck upon the hills, and November 12th, 13th and upon the 23rd more fell which lasted

about a week. Upon December 23rd there was a great flood and upon the 27th more snow fell

which held unwasted just on a fortnight and after the 7th there was not 3 days at any time before

the end of March without snow sleet rain and frost which would immediately follow one and other

which. Kept the waters very full the wind being always near the east, it was certainly as unkind a

season as ever was known. There was scarcely any lent grain sowed till April following.’

There are also later eighteenth and nineteenth century diaries of estate or land agents, such as that of

William Lewis, the agent of the Duke of Sutherlands Trentham and Lilleshall estates in Staffordshire and

Shropshire respectively, which cover the period 1816-37.5 It provides a daily written account of the

weather and its effects on agricultural activities like the harvest and the blowing down of trees, as well as

remarking on its everyday character. For example: ‘a fine dry day’, ‘very stormy morning’, ‘a frosty

morning’, a wet day’, and ‘a fine blowing day and a great drought.’6 Large estates often kept detailed

meteorological records.

Another source is the two-volume diary of physician and antiquary Dr. Richard Wilkes (1691-1760).7

Whilst in his diary he writes predominantly on medical matters, he nevertheless refers frequently to the

effects of weather on agriculture, commenting on the state of harvests and the prevalence of cattle

distemper and plague. Significantly in terms of the diffusion of knowledge and levels of understanding,

Wilkes’s interest in the weather derived from his occupation as a physician and his attempt to try and link

medical diseases and illnesses in humans and livestock to the weather. As well as writing on medical

matters, he was author of: ‘A Letter to the Gentlemen, Farmers, and Graziers of the County of

Staffordshire on the Treatment of the Distemper now prevalent among Horned Cattle, and its Prevention

5 Staffordshire Record Office, Stafford (hereafter SRO), D593/L/2/2b.

6 SRO, D593/L/2/2b.

7 SRO 5350. Diary of Dr Richard Wilkes Vol. 1: 1736-1738; The Wellcome Library, London (hereafter WLL), MS. 5006.

Diary of Dr. Richard Wilkes, Vol. 2: 1739-1754.

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and Cure’, published in 1743, further demonstrating the links between medicine and agriculture and the

increasingly widespread application of science.8 See extracts below:

September 1737 - ‘The weather this month was rather dry than otherwise so that the farmer had a

very good seediness.’9

30 January 1736 - ‘At the beginning of this month the air was mild and pretty calm, but frosty the

glass being on the 15th as high as had been known for a long time. On the 21 it began to be stormy

with some snow and hail and so continued to the end. Coughs both in men and cattle were still very

severe and many horses, that were low and weak died, especially in Gloucestershire and the West,

as I was informed by one Hurst a great jockey at Upton-upon-Severn.’10

November 1741 - ‘The frost destroyed the Oysters on the Kent and Essex shores. The cows were

many of them barren. There was a brief for the oystermen of Colchester, but none for the farmers,

though many of them were undone by the severity of the two last years.’11

Other documentary sources, such as, parish records provide insight into weather and climate in a

locality, but also more broadly at a regional and national level being indicative of how knowledge of

weather events spread. Parish registers for instance record the prices of grain and crops, as well as the

occurrence of extreme weather, such as cold and hot temperatures, drought, flooding, frosts, snow and

storms. Short-term changes in weather had an immediate impact on farmers’ experiences, and

furthermore, were probably a significant determinant of prices. Much of the literature has focused on the

relationship between weather and yields.12

Also, the descriptions of weather events are sometimes imbued

with religious or theological connotations, or make reference to notions of memory and a culture of

remembrance. The latter is a further dimension as to how knowledge was transmitted. For example such

events are described as having taken place: ‘in the memory of any person then living’ and ‘in the memory

of man.’ See extracts below:

‘Note that this year there was great plenty of mast, apples and all manner of fruits and some did

sell at a very low rate, wheat at 2s. 4d. the strike, rye at 20d., barley at 16d., oats at [deleted], 8 R. Wilkes, ‘A Letter to the Gentlemen, Farmers, and Graziers of the County of Staffordshire on the Treatment of the

Distemper now prevalent among Horned Cattle, and its Prevention and Cure’ (London, 1743)

9 SRO 5350, p. 95.

10 SRO 5350, p. 58.

11 WLL, MS. 5006, 131.

12 E.L. Jones, Seasons And Prices: The Role of the Weather in English Agricultural History (London, George Allen and

Unwin, 1964); P.J. Bowden, Agricultural History of England and Wales, Vol. 7. 1640-1750 (Cambridge, Cambridge

University Press, 1988), pp. 45-62.

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French wheat at 6d. the strike and cattle at a low price.’13

Muckleston (Staffordshire), 21

December 1620.

‘Note that this year we had a very dry summer and that there was great store of all manner of corn

being at a very […] all grain being well […] and having also a very good and dry seed time

continuing well near to Saint Andrews Day.’14

Muckleston (Staffordshire), 11 November 1624.

‘For the last eight days, this neighbourhood has experience a wonderful change of weather. After a

winter of the mildest ever remembered by the oldest person living, the wind most at South West by

West chopped round to North East by East blowing generally very hard that brought a great

quantity of snow and hail attended by some frost, which made the alterations severely felt. What

effect it will have upon the agriculture of the country at large, cannot yet be known but previous to

this change, all the crops were much too forward, and check greatly wished for, the wheat in

particular was singularly productive and would undoubtedly run up to fast in straw to the detriment

of the grain itself.’15

The ‘Annals of Alrewas’ (Staffordshire), 7 March 1796.

An interesting example of a source, which it has been suggested, links weather and climate with the

practice of agriculture is the town book of the parish of Hingham, Norfolk.16

Overton cited the example of

the town book and, in particular, the entry for 1681 as being indicative of the shift to turnips as a fodder

crop:

1681 – ‘This year began a drought about the middle of March and continued till the beginning of

July by reason of which we had little or no hay for that it was found for great prices before the

rains. But in July it pleased god to send [...] as we had in this town a good crop of all grains and

beyond hope or [...] for when we feared a famine we had a great plenty; and a want of hay was

supplied by farming of turnips.’17

It is clearly indicative of the occurrence of a period of drought which resulted in a lack of hay and what

had been grown between mid-March and early July was sold before a period of heavy rain in July

hampered the hay harvest. Overton argued that this led to an insufficiency of hay for animal fodder which

the Hingham town book implied was compensated for by the growing of turnips, an important root crop

which he suggested was introduced in Norfolk, partly in response to the weather which deteriorated in the

second-half of the seventeenth century. The diffusion of turnip husbandry intensified in the period after

13

Mucklestone Parish Registers, 1555-1701 (Staffordshire Parish Register Society), p. 93.

14 Mucklestone, p. 100.

15 Parish Register Alrewas, All Saints, 1547-1747, p. 119.

16 Norfolk Record Office, Norwich, MS 9935.

17 M. Overton, ‘Weather and agricultural change in England, 1660-1739’, Agricultural History, 63, 2 (1989), pp. 77-88.

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1750, although as turnips were susceptible to disease and hard winters they were later replaced by new

root crops namely the swede and mangel. But what was the wider significance of the weather described in

the Hingham town book? It is plausible that the adoption of turnips which could be planted as late as

August was a direct response to short and/or long-term weather events, such as, the incidences of drought

(recorded for Hingham for the years 1681-4-5) and heavy rainfall, as well as more long-term changes in

weather patterns and climate change. However, a purely economic view fails to take into consideration

other factors and can be criticized for being too deterministic. For instance, what about decision-making

and the ability of farmers to shape the course of the rural economy of Norfolk? How many times did the

hay harvest have to fail before farmers decided to abandon hay in favour of turnips? Can land which is

used for hay be suitable for turnip production? Also, can the incidences of extreme weather noted in the

Hingham town book be linked to periods of drought or heavy rainfall in the East Anglian region and

Britain more generally? These questions require further consideration.

The introduction of turnips from the 1630s and other root crops in the seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries has been viewed as a significant factor in the much debated agricultural revolution, although

they did not themselves have a major impact on productivity or output. Historians who have examined the

notion of an agricultural revolution on the basis of a population-resources model, have suggested that

population growth provided the stimulus for advances in farming practices, such as, the introduction of

turnips. Nevertheless, such a view has been challenged by economic historians who argue that farmers

adopted technological innovations when they saw a rise in prices and an upturn in the market more

generally. Turnips provided a much more intensive form of animal fodder, allowing for a reduction in

permanent pasture which, allowed for an increase in the extent of the arable land and a subsequent rise in

crop yields thus increasing land productivity. However, Overton suggested that the initial introduction of

turnips (and clover) had more to do with averting risk and mitigating the effects of bad weather rather

than raising land productivity as part of a Norfolk four-course system. He also pointed to it corresponding

with the peak of the ‘Little Ice Age’ in the late seventeenth century and the occurrence of frequent periods

of droughts. Clearly, changes in weather and climate could have important ramifications, not simply in

relation to the decision to increase the growth of turnips and the introduction of root crops, but more

importantly, affecting crop yields and prices, and in some instances resulting in food shortages in a period

when the population of England was growing dramatically.

Caution should, however, be applied to this interpretation as it is important to recognize the wider

agricultural context and to view the adoption of turnips as a response to the more intensive production of

cattle and the need to stall cattle for longer to fatten them more quickly, rather than allowing them to

graze. Farmers simply could not substitute hay for turnips. Indeed soil type is also an important

consideration, as whilst hay was suited to light clay and sandy soils, turnips prefer moist, light, rich,

sandy, loamy soil which can form a good seedbed. In this sense, it could be conversely suggested that the

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growth of turnips should be viewed as an addition to hay production and that the reference to the shift to

turnips in the example was less about the weather, but rather crucially reflected the increasing adoption of

turnips as the farming system intensified in favor of livestock husbandry.

Part 2. Agricultural societies, farmers clubs and contemporary literature in the eighteenth and

nineteenth centuries.

Knowledge concerning weather and climate and its effects on the practice of agriculture and rural life

gradually developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Contemporary literature was one way

that knowledge was diffused amongst the growing class of practical farmers who adopted improvements

in farming practices. For instance, Timothy Nourse (c.1636–99), a gentleman who was an agricultural and

religious writer in his work published in 1700: ‘Campania Foelix, or, A discourse of the benefits and

improvements of husbandry containing directions for all manner of tillage, pasturage, and plantation’,

makes reference to the influence of weather.18

There was a growing appreciation of the importance of

scientific knowledge in agriculture, one aspect of which was an understanding of weather and climate.

Later eighteenth and nineteenth century literature is more detailed in its discussion of the importance

of weather and climate as landowners, agriculturalists and farmers in Britain were increasingly literature

and open to new ideas, leading to the growth in the number of farming books and the establishment of

agricultural periodicals. Literature concerning agriculture and rural life explored the significance of

weather and climate and was one way in which knowledge was disseminated. In 1771, the notable

agriculturalist Arthur Young (1741-1820) published: ‘The Farmer’s Calendar; or Monthly Directory’, in

which he makes frequent reference to the weather, outlining the time at which work was to be undertaken

and how farmers should take measures to mitigate the negative effects and conversely take advantage of

it.19

Periodicals, such as, the Annals of Agriculture published between 1784 and 1815, and the Journal of

the Royal Agricultural Society of England (JRASE) included contributions on weather and climate. With

regard to the latter, a ‘Prize Essay’: ‘On the Climate of the British Islands in its Effects on Cultivation’

written by Nicholas Whitley, a surveyor from Truro, Cornwall observed there were three primary

18

D. Souden, ‘Nourse, Timothy (c.1636–1699)’, first published 2004, 835 words http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/20376; T.

Nourse, Campania foelix, or, A discourse of the benefits and improvements of husbandry containing directions for all manner

of tillage, pasturage, and plantation: as also for the making of cyder and perry: with some considerations upon I. Justices of

the peace and inferior officers, II. On inns and alehouses, III. On servants and labourers, IV. On the poor: to which are added

two essays: I. Of a country-house, II. Of the fuel of London (London, 1700)

19 G.E. Mingay, ‘Young, Arthur (1741–1820)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004;

online edn, Sept 2013 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/30256, accessed 7 Aug 2014]; A. Young, The Farmer's

Kalendar: or, A monthly directory for all sorts of country business: containing, plain instructions for performing the work of

various kinds of farms, in every season of the year. Respecting particularly the buying, feeding, and selling livestock. The

whole culture of arable crops. The management of grasses. The economical conduct of the farm, & c (1771).

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elements necessary for successful agriculture, ‘skill-full husbandry, a well constituted soil, and a genial

climate’, the latter being ‘beyond man’s control.’20

Furthermore, of climate he observed: ‘It is man’s

master exacting submission, not his servant obeying his behests’, questioning the importance of

knowledge of the subject given man’s inability to control it.21

He emphasised the need to adapt to climate

which he went as far as arguing was the ‘ruling principle of agriculture’, governing the agricultural

production of countries and that those ‘who yields the most enlightened obedience obtains the largest

reward.’22

Similarly, the ‘Prize Reports’, divide counties into districts, describing the climate of each in

detail and often including instrumental data. For example the prize report for Shropshire written by

Humphrey Tanner, includes a series of tables presenting the climate of each month, the climate of each

separate year (1848-1857), the variation in temperature, pressure and dew point by season and the

direction and strength of the prevailing wind.23

Warde has pointed out that early writers on husbandry

placed much emphasis on local conditions and recognised that farmers were ‘as much acted upon as

acting on […] there could be no clear-cut division between the agricultural world and other worlds (or

environments).’24

The farming community was increasingly educated and innovative and they played an important role

in observing and recording the weather in the same way that clergymen or parsons, doctors, gardeners,

gentlemen and landowners did. Agricultural societies and farmers clubs which were firmly established

from the 1840s provided another opportunity where knowledge of weather and climate could be diffused,

often having extensive libraries which farmers could access and providing a forum for discussion.25

Contemporary literature concerning agriculture and everyday rural life provided insight into the effects of

weather and climate offered practical advice that could be followed.

The design and layout of model farm buildings or planned farmsteads was influenced by the need to

mitigate the effects of weather. For instance, the sheltering of livestock was an important consideration as

cattle fattened quicker in covered yards. For example, the farmsteading at Kilchiaran, Islay, Scotland built

in the mid-1820s demonstrates the consideration given to the design of farm buildings. In his: ‘Account

of the Improvements on the Estates of the Marquess of Stafford’, the land agent James Loch (1780-1855)

referred to the effects which weather had on life in the Scottish Highlands which were climatically suited

to pastoralism. He described how the tiles on a set of new farm offices had been so badly damaged by the

20

N. Whitley, ‘The Climate of the British Islands’, Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, Vol. 11 (1850), pp. 1-65.

21 Whitley, ‘Climate of the British Islands’, p. 1.

22 Whitley, ‘Climate of the British Islands’, p. 1.

23 H. Tanner, 'The agriculture of Shropshire ', Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, Vol. 19 (1858), pp. 1-64.

24 P. Warde, ‘The Environmental History of Pre-Industrial Agriculture in Europe’, in S. Sorlin and P. Warde (eds.), Nature’s

End: History and the Environment (London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), p. 88.

25 The Royal Agricultural Society of England was founded in 1838 and granted its Royal Charter by Her Royal Highness

Queen Victoria in 1840, its motto was: ‘practice with science.’

13

severity of the weather that it had been necessary to replace them with slates. Furthermore he wrote: ‘This

fact is worthy of notice, as demonstrating the nature of the climate amongst the mountains.’26

The Board of Agricultural Reports, or General Views, typically give a description of a county’s

climate and also makes reference to the recording of the weather. For example Joseph Plymley wrote of

Shropshire:

‘The climate, throughout this country, is so far altered by the irregularity of its soil and surface,

that there is a considerable difference. The harvest on the eastern side, where the land is warm and

flat, is frequently ripe about a fortnight sooner than in the middle of the county, where the vales are

extensive, but where the surface is less light, and the bottom often clayey; and hay and grain are

both gathered earlier there than on the western side, where the vales are narrow, and the high

lands frequent and extensive, although the ground is not in general so stiff, and lies for the most

part on semi-rock full of fissures. The easterly winds prevail in spring, and those from the west in

autumn; but I believe the easterly winds are from the west in autumn, but I believe the easterly

winds are the most regular, those from the west generally blowing for a series of years (five or six

perhaps) strong and frequent, and then for somewhat near a similar space less often and less

violent. The same may be said of wet and dry seasons; but the periods of both appear to be much

shorter. I subjoin a list of days upon which there was no rain, and upon which there was some rain

within the day and night, for six years.

I do not know of any rain-gauges that have been kept in this county. Mr. Aikin, in his Tour, 1797,

observes, that common pluviameters afford no sufficient proof of the quantity of rain and falls in a

country, because the most partial showers are often the heaviest; so that an inch or two of rain may

be gained in one sport, whilst none has been received at the distance of a mile, or less, but he

conceives, that proper observations made at the Iron Bridge, near Coalbrookdale, would ascertain

the superfluous water from about 1260 square miles.’27

Furthermore, they sometimes include daily, monthly or annual instrumental data. The volume for

Shropshire even includes, ‘An account of water in the [River] Severn between 1789 and 1800’ (Figure 1).

26

J. Loch, An Account of the Improvements on the Estates of the Marquess of Stafford, ‘Appendix 2. An Account Pointing out

the progress of agricultural improvement on the Estate of Sutherland’ (London, Longman, 1820), p. 33.

27 J. Plymley, General View of the Agriculture of Shropshire (London, G. and W. Nicol, 1803), 37-40.

14

Figure 1 ‘An account of water in the Severn between 1789 and 1800.’ Source: J. Plymley, General View

of the Agriculture of Shropshire (London, G. and W. Nicol, 1803), 317-333.

In the first volume for Derbyshire written by the geologist and surveyor John Farey (1766-1826), there

is a detailed discussion about the climate of the county.28

He highlighted the significance of the difference

in height between the High and Low Peak and the implications this had for temperature. It was noted that

‘violent storms’ and ‘ravages committed on lands by torrents of rain’ were not very common in the Peaks

and ‘the snows’ began to fall in the autumn and continued until late spring by ten days or a fortnight

difference.29

The timing of the harvest is referred to, as at Hartington, he was informed that the harvest of

corn and hay was two weeks later than in around Derby and that it was reported that corn frequently

remained in the fields of the High Peak until Christmas. Farey himself observed oats standing in a field

covered by snow on the 25 November 1808, although he came to the conclusion that this was the result of

‘the effect of neglect and mismanagement on the part of the Farmer.’30

He was informed at Ashover that

early and severe autumn frosts were not an indication of a severe winter, that frosts after wet weather

tended not to continue for long, and that when the wind blew south or south-west it frequently rained

between twelve and three o’clock. Farey referred to having witnessed farmers consulting a printed table

concerning the weather, presumably published in the aforementioned periodical literature. Although he

pointed out that there were few daily registers of barometer readings, he noted ‘yet there are very few

farmers indeed, who are not furnished with this useful instrument, and who no doubt often carefully

28

J. Farey, General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire, Volume 1 (London, B. McMillan, 1811), pp. 95-105;

H.S. Torrens, ‘Farey, John (1766–1826)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online

edn, May 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9154, accessed 7 Aug 2014].

29 Farey, General View, p. 96.

30 Farey, General View, p. 96.

15

observe its state as to rising or falling, and whether above or below the point of “changeable.”31

Accompanying his account of the climate of Derbyshire is a register of rainfall kept at Chatsworth House,

the estate of the Devonshire family for the period 1761 to 1810 and this is discussed in-depth (Figure 2).

Farey complemented the Duke of Devonshire – ‘the noble owner of Chatsworth for persevering with this

Register of the Rain’, and he suggested that other noblemen and gentlemen should do the same.32

Such

registers he argued would ‘in time prove of the greatest importance, as the foundation of a Science of

Meteorology.’33

The Chatsworth series can be supplemented with further precipitation records provided

by William Milnes at Ashover and Mr. Thomas Swanwick, of the Commercial Academy, in St. Mary’s

Gate, Derby (Figure 3) who made meteorological observations more generally providing useful

comparison.

As with the promotion of new farming practices, improvements in estate management and the

construction of farm buildings, the recording of weather data seems to have been pioneered by the large

estates. The recording of early instrumental meteorological data, such as, barometric pressure,

temperature, rainfall, wind direction and strength provides valuable quantitative data as to the nature of

the weather and climate in the past and could be used to recover local climate histories. Furthermore, it

allows for the reconstruction of long series of precipitation, temperature and pressure data for localities

and regions which can inform climate modelling and be used for reanalysis.

31

Farey, General View, p. 97.

32 Farey, General View, p. 103.

33 Farey, General View, p. 103.

16

Figure 2 Register of rainfall kept at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire. Source: J. Farey, General View of the

Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire, Volume 1 (London, B. McMillan, 1811), p. 99.

17

Figure 3 ‘Eleven years abstracts and averages of meteorological observations made at Derby, Lat. 52o 58

o

N., Lon. 1o 32

o W: about 170 feet above the level of the sea; by the late Mr. Thomas Swanwick, of the

Commercial Academy, who died in March 1814.’ Source: J. Farey, General View of the Agriculture and

Minerals of Derbyshire, Volume 1 (London, B. McMillan, 1811), p. 685.

Lastly, another interesting source for the diffusion of knowledge of weather and climate, albeit

impressionistic, are local rhymes and sayings which are frequently compiled in folklore collections. For

example, in west Shropshire it was often said:

‘A cold May is kindly,

And fills the barn finely.’

A wet May,

Makes a big load of hay.’34

Conclusion

In conclusion, research, which is still work in progress, has revealed the wide range of primary source

material that can provide historians with evidence about the weather and climate in the past and its

importance for traditional agriculture and in everyday rural life. Whilst the British and European economy

remained primarily agrarian, it remained at risk of harvest failure or famine due to extreme weather which

posed a high-risk for pre-modern society. Developments associated with the agricultural revolution,

however, meant that that agriculture became less reliant on short-term changes in weather and climate.

34

C.S. Burne, (ed.), Shropshire Folk Law, Part 2 (Wakefield, EP Publishing Ltd, 1974), p. 579.

18

There is a need to view changes in agriculture and rural life and weather and climate in a broader

European perspective, as there are clearly similarities in terms of the nature of agrarian improvement,

such as, extensive land reclamation, moorland farming, crop rotation, irrigation, greater understanding of

soils and the sowing of new seed varieties which made countries less susceptible to the short-term impact

of weather extremes. It is also necessary to emphasise the links between agriculture and other subjects

like medicine and meteorology in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Agriculturalists, farmers and

landowners, along with educated gentlemen, such as academics, doctors and physicians, gardeners,

naturalists and members of the clergy, played an important role in the development of knowledge of

weather and climate. They observed and recorded the weather, in turn making this available to the wider

farming community through contemporary literature and publications, as well as through the activities of

agricultural societies and farmers clubs. This meant that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

knowledge was increasingly applied to the practice of agriculture, which became increasingly practical

and scientific, providing impetus for improvement and innovation, best demonstrated by the large estates.

Significantly, the historical study of weather and climate is well placed to bring together both qualitative

and quantitative approaches, although this can be challenging. Additionally, knowledge of agriculture was

transmitted orally through folklore and traditions of the countryside providing insight into the social and

cultural aspects of everyday life in rural Britain. Further research is required to examine the wide-range of

source material available in order to assess the historical significance of changes in weather and climate

with regard to agriculture, whilst avoiding the tendency towards determinism.