Memoranda book for a farm in the Stragglethorpe, Holme Pierrepont and Cotgrave area, Nottinghamshire, 1814-1848

The volume is a journal of agricultural activities. From internal evidence, the farm was a sheep farm, and it also produced the arable crops barley, corn, wheat, oats, grass, hay, turnips, swedes, mangel wurzels, potatoes and beans, many of which were probably grown for fodder.

Most of the volume comprises annual details of dates for sowing and harvesting, manure turning, formation of hay stacks, grazing of sheep and pigs, siring of horses, etc. Arable husbandry took place in closes, and in 'lands' - strips of arable land in unenclosed fields. Occasionally, boundaries of these 'lands' are given in relation to other landowners or landmarks. Some of the closes and field names mentioned include Canal Close [probably in Bassingfield], Brick Kiln Field [either Cotgrave or Radcliffe-on-Trent], Top Conduit, West Conduit and South Conduit [probably in Holme Pierrepont], Home Close in Stragglethorpe, Pit Close, Cottage Close, Clay Wong, Long Close, Seven Acres, Wood Yard, Cock't Hat, Middle Hovel, Dove Acres, 'the Grips', and Middle Pasture. Stacks for wheat, hay and corn were formed in a straw yard at Holme Lane [a hamlet in the parish of Holme Pierrepont] and in the 'Great Yard' at Stragglethorpe [a hamlet in the parish of Cotgrave]. The volume includes notes on the composition of these stacks.

At the back of the volume, entered upside down in relation to the arable notes, are annual details about the sheep farming side of the business, including the numbers of ewes put to the tup, the numbers of lambs got, and descriptions of their ear marks. Most were tupped by Mr Jos. Burgess's sheep [Joseph Burgess was a farmer in the parish of Holme Pierrepont].

The volume covers the period Jan. 1814 - Jun. 1844 (sheep details continue up to 1848) and the entries are arranged in chronological order.

The notes are written into a bound notebook. Inside the front cover and forming the first page is a 'Collection of Arithmetical Tables' (coins, weights and measures), printed at the Journal Office, Nottingham, by G. Stretton.

The names of the compilers of this volume have not been identified, and it bears no title as to the location of the farm. The volume appears to be written in two hands: one up to 1834, and a second from 1834-1848. The contents and style of the volume remain the same, indicating that there was a continuity in the running of the farm. Field names which appear in the volume suggest that the farm comprised lands in the parishes and hamlets of Cotgrave, Stragglethorpe, Holme Lane and Bassingfield.

No archival arrangement has been necessary.

Accessible to all registered readers.

This description is the only finding aid available for the collection. Copyright on the description belongs to the University of Nottingham.

Good

Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational use and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections (email mss-library@nottingham.ac.uk).

The volume was acquired by the library of University College Nottingham in June 1943.