Until the social and economic changes at the beginning of the 20th century, the village workforce was almost entirely involved with the land. Blacksmiths, thatchers, shepherds, carters and innumerable farm labourers were in demand from the time man settled here, until, for a whole variety of reasons over the past eighty years, the pattern of farming changed forever. Kings and Queens came and went and battles were fought, lost and won, but relatively few of the major historic events had an immediate effect on people living in North Waltham. Certainly not in a way to cause a radical change in how they had to earn a living. It was the Acts of Parliament relating either to the land or the poor, combined with the fluctuating prices of grain brought about by wars, political changes, bad weather, and disease which affected the village folk.

Mechanisation has perhaps brought about the most radical change of all. Today, big manufacturers produce sophisticated tractors, combine harvesters and lorries replacing the hand-made ploughs, pitchforks and carts. when the machinery breaks down or is damaged, mechanics and welders repair it. The blacksmith's, wheelwright's and cartwright's skills are only needed now for specialised work such as shoeing horses, creating decorative items or perhaps carrying out restoration to implements from a past age. Hi-tech machinery is often driven and operated by the farmers themselves with the help of one or two trained employees or students who go to college to study and gain a qualification in agriculture. Haymaking and harvest are contracted out to men with even more specialised machinery. It is all far removed from the bands of men, women and boys working day after day with hand or horsedrawn ploughs, hoes, scythes, rakes, pitchforks and carts. Even crops such as peas and beans can now be gathered mechanically. Cows once milked by hand into a wooden or metal bucket out in the fields or perhaps in the relative comfort of a barn, are today milked indoors using state of the art technology under strictly monitored conditions. Farming in the 1990s is regarded as an industry.

Some of the earliest accounts written in the Medieval period tell of crops of peas, barley, oats and corn being grown on the land within the parish. Many people would have worked throughout the seasons to grow these. Soil needed tilling, seed had to be sown, the fields required hoeing or hand weeding and crops were harvested, threshed and stored. Reference is made to the number of oxen or "draught animals" kept here. They operated in teams with men following behind keeping the ploughs straight and their use must have made ploughing much easier, especially in these flint strewn fields. Oxen were also used for pulling carts, wood and other heavy loads. Looking after the beasts provided work for other men; they were expensive to buy and maintain, especially through the winter months when food was not easily come by and they were valued and well treated.

A large number of sheep were kept; the shepherds virtually living with them all the year round. The lambing season was probably the busiest time but anyone who was able to shear would be in demand in early summer when it was time to relieve the sheep of the precious wool. Hurdlers would have been kept busy constantly making and repairing hurdles to pen the sheep when they were not allowed to roam. Sheep were not only a source for meat and wool, but during the Medieval period, they were also kept for their milk. This was used mainly for making cheese and 162 cheeses were recorded as having been produced in the village in 1209. This in turn provided employment in the dairy and although a man was appointed as dairyman, the womenfolk may well have helped out too as dairying and poultry keeping were generally regarded as "women's work"

In the Medieval parish, anyone who was able to offer skills other than those of a general farm labourer were rewarded accordingly. The most responsible jobs on the land were those of shepherd, carter, haywarden, granger and swineherd. The "Reeve", who was a sort of clerk appointed to make accurate annual returns concerning the parish to the bailiff of the Bishop of Winchester, was perhaps the most important person in the village as he also had to deal with minor disputes and all administrative matters. Although there is no mention of a mill, the grain used locally must have been ground within easy reach of North Waltham, possibly in Overton as there were close links between the two places, both being owned by the Bishops of Winchester. The miller played a vital role in any rural community, so much so, that as well as telling his tale in Chaucerian times, he features along side the parson in the following ironic verse about corn sowing, variations of which are well-known to countrymen. It is quoted to illustrate what the farmer felt about the tithe system and implies that he actually needed to sow four seeds so that he himself could benefit from one ear of corn.

"One for the parson, one for the crow,
One for the miller and one to grow".

Birds were, and still are, a scourge to crops and for centuries, boys spent much of their time, earning a few pence scaring crows all too eager to pick up a free meal. Today, boys are in school or are able to follow their own pursuits, but scarecrows are still seen around the village, some wearing worn out clothes in the time honoured tradition, but others are dressed in trendy white suits which is what "cool" scarecrows of the nineteen nineties prefer to be seen in!

Wages from any period are difficult to relate to those of today, as the value of money and what it would buy has changed beyond recognition. Frequently, accommodation came with the job and there might have been other "perks" too so direct comparisons are not reliable. However, in the 13th century, the following was "the going rate for the job":

"In paying of the Reeve 5/=, 1 granger (in charge of the grain store - a position of trust) and 1 haywarden 6/=, 1 shepherd and 1 swineherd 6/=, 4 plough teams 12/= TOTAL 29/="

Not all the work on the Bishop's land was carried out by hired labour as much of it was done by the "boon" workers. It was a properly organised arrangement with certain conditions laid down on both sides, one of which was the supply of liquid refreshment. There is an entry stating that the boon workers' beer cost the Bishop of Winchester's estate 3/6d for work in the autumn.

Following the Black Death in 1338 which wiped out a huge number of the population and with it a vast proportion of the labour force, boon work was superseded by a payment system, whereby instead of supplying manpower, the landowner accepted a cash payment in lieu. Indeed, rural life was transformed by the Black Death, and eventually families gained their freedom from the old bondage system. The fortunate and enterprising became yeoman farmers who paid rent to the Bishops of Winchester for their lands whilst the rest were employed and paid a wage. Of course the craftsmen and trades people lived alongside, still providing their services to the community.

By Tudor times, the new order was well established and records concerning people as individuals were being kept. The farming round continued and the numerous building craftsmen were kept busy putting up more substantial dwellings and barns, and maintaining old ones. The services of general builders, carpenters, stone masons, glaziers and the blacksmith were all needed during this period of growth. In the constant battle to keep the Church in reasonable repair, the following entry for 1611 is typical of many:

For nayles for the shingles	iiiis
For a peace of timber of John Phillips for to make shingles	iis iid
More of him for bordes	xv iid
For carrying of ii buttes out of Southwood	viiid
For hewing of shingles	xxs
For laeing of 3200 shingles	xxxiis

The bells too regularly needed replacements of a variety of parts, the names of which seem to be peculiar only to bells. The spelling of these taxed the abilities of the poor Churchwardens to such an extent that some of the words are barely recognisable! In 1621 a new "pulpill" was installed at a cost of xxxs and jobs such as this were welcomed by the local carpenters. Coffin making too provided a regular income for those who worked with wood.

In 1670 a law was passed which made Rate payers m parishes responsible for maintaining the highway within the parish bounds. In North Waltham, two surveyors were appointed annually and it was their role to arrange for the roads to be kept in good repair. How well this was carried out can only be imagined, but for two centuries, this provided the means for many labourers and their families to supplement their incomes by "picking" stones from the fields to put on the roads to create some sort of surface. The flints were gathered from the fields into baskets and the pickers were paid a meagre sum for each basket collected. A more thankless task it is hard to imagine - the only consolation being that in North Waltham they did not have to search for the stones; they were truly there for the picking! The registers of births, marriages and deaths are good indicators of the means by which villagers earned a living. Alongside the name of many of the entries, the occupation is added. By far the majority are "labourers", but farmers and craftsmen are mentioned too. In 1754, Thomas Fielder, wheelwright, married Joan Spire, a widow and in 1684, Will Woolman, a shovelmaker was buried. Others listed are tailors, blacksmiths, a cordwainer (shoemaker), a coachinan, a "servant at Mr Yates" (1710) and in 1783, the burial of a "maidservant, Mary Meaton at the Flowerpots, Popham Lane" is recorded.

The farm accounts for Batchelors which span the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are a wonderful source of information. Payments to named people were made and the work they had done is recorded. Carters, threshers, shepherds and shearers were in regular employment by the Batchelor family, whilst others such as William Blunden and William Lavender were paid on a piece work basis for seasonal jobs like hedging and ditching. No mention is made of cattle being kept, so no stockmen were employed, but they had several horses, both for farm work and pleasure which would have needed looking after. Turnips, which were still a relatively new crop, needed someone to sow, hoe, dig and clamp them and vetches and clovers were grown as a "green" manure or as fodder for animals. Casual work around the parish was sometimes the only work available and occasionally it was paid for by the Churchwardens.

"Sam Corbett for scouring a ditch at Trinleys £0:1:0."

In 1566, an Act of Parliament was passed which obliged farmers to protect their land from pests. Sparrows, foxes and pole cats came into this category and the poor of the parish were paid by the "head" or the "tail" of the animal killed. Again, this was paid for out of the Church Rates. Rewards for catching foxes and even pole cats do appear in the records, but it was the sparrows which were killed in greatest numbers. This Act was not repealed until 1863 and it is surprising that the sparrow population survived such a sustained onslaught. A shilling was the usual rate of pay for a fox or "poul catlv but the payment for the sparrows was more variable..

"1666 Paied to Thomas Q for killing sparrows	0.2.4
1684 Giv to Goodman Kew for kilen sparoes.	0.1.0"

Women earned where they were able, some by taking in washing. The Church Wardens' Accounts have many entries as follows:

"1687 pd. for washing the surplis and linen.

0:.2.3"

It seems that this was not a job for the rector's wife or housekeeper; perhaps by making it ajob to be done outside the rectory, they allowed the village women to earn a few more vital pennies. These women would probably have done washing and ironing for the yeomen farmers' wives as well and on the 1881 census, one lady is listed as being a laundress. For those handy with a needle, sewing was a regular source of income and in 1627, 6d was paid for "making two cushions into one for the pulpit". The Poor Rates list many entries for the purchase of clothing and materials and perhaps where a home had motherless children, the village women were paid for making cloth into garments for them. Spinning wheels were provided from the Poor Rates too at a cost of 3/6d and in the middle of the 19th century there was a woman baker and some women kept a "front room" shop.

Children, especially those who came from poor families, were apprenticed to learn a trade. Apprenticeships were legally binding and the terms were agreed on both sides before signing took place and the signatures had to be witnessed. The children were bound by all sorts of constraints and to expect such standards from very young people appears severe by today's standards. However, the master too had to abide by strict rules as whilst away from home, the welfare of the child was his responsibility. Where a child was orphaned, illegitimate or being brought up "by the Parish" for some other reason, the master was effectively acting in loco parentis. He was required to provide food, accommodation and training for his young charge, often for as long as seven years. Apprentices frequently "lived in" with the family. Most trades required an apprenticeship to be served, including shoemakers, blacksmiths, bakers and tailors and at the end of the time, the trainee had a means of supporting himself in the future and a roof over his head, regular meals and clothes to wear in the meantime.

The builders' skills were much in demand at the beginning of the nineteenth century when the Poor Houses were built out on the Stockbridge Road. Six were put up and entries in the Poor Rates include details of payments for building mud walls, digging wells and thatching roofs. They were sold in 1836 when parishes were no longer allowed to use Poor Houses, but had to send the needy to the nearest Union Poor House instead.

Sometimes people followed two occupations. In the North Waltham entry in White's Directory for 1859 for example, Peter Figgins at The Sun is listed as being a butcher as well as a victualler, Thomas Hide at Flowerpots was a victualler and carpenter whilst James Roe combined the duties of carpenter, wheelwright and Parish Clerk. There were two grocers and bakers, one blacksmith, one tailor, four farmers (one of the latter included shoemaking amongst his skills) and an incredible ten people were running beer houses!

Many more specific details are revealed in the censuses. For those interested in statistics and social trends, these are fascinating sources of information which give comprehensive lists of all residents in the village on the day of the census. The date and place of birth, relationship to the head of the household and occupation are all recorded, as they still are today. In the 1881 census for North Waitham, there were oflly two people not employed on the land or in direct service to the local community one way or another.

The services of the village "carrier" were very important to the parishioners. He provided a vital link with the outside world in times when many people only left the village when there was a real need. He went to Basingstoke and Winchester several times a week, perhaps taking produce to market, people on vital journeys and was trusted to purchase the few essentials not available locally. North Waltham had the regular services of one carrier, Harvey Bolton, well into the 1960s and his father, Walter, had been a carrier before him. At the end of the last century, another carrier, H Farmer lived in and operated from one of the cottages at The Flowerpots.

With the coming of the twentieth century and the introduction of limited benefits for people who were unable to earn a living wage, work patterns began to change. Education for all and the ability to move freely in search of work also helped with employment opportunities. The number of men leaving the land which started as a trickle in the 1880s increased, gained momentum after the First World War, and by the time the Second World War had been fought, the old ways had gone forever. Looking back through the centuries at how the villagers supported themselves and their families, the picture that emerges is one of a hardworking, independent community whose fortunes depended upon the fluctuation of an agricultural economy.

On August 4th 1832, the above return was made to the House of Commons and it shows precisely what the labour force comprised at that time.

"Number of Acres in North Waltham		1,795
230 wood, 1,470 arable, 95 pasture
Number oflabourers above 20 years of age		125
Number of labourers above 10 and under 20 years		78
Out of employ	- Summer 3-4 - Winter 10-12
Wages - Day labourer 9/= Piece work 12/=
Land let to the Poor	4 acres at 40/= per acre 10 acres at 24/= per acre
Relief to Man, wife and three children 2/= and the price of a gallon of bread for every other child
36 persons relieved last week
Rent of cottages 52/= - £5.00"

The diversity in employment of today's inhabitants reflects the willingness and ability of people to travel to their places of work, but who still wish to make their homes in a Hampshire village. Many of the jobs they do did not even exist until recently. Approaching the millennium, for the majority, there is at least a certain amount of choice about where they live and what they do. Previous occupants of the village had little or no choice; they had to work to live and if they were unable to work, living was very hard indeed.

There is little written down which gives very much information about how any spare moments were spent. For the most part, the women regarding mending and sewing as a form of leisure in that they were able to sit whilst working, a treat in itself. The men, right back through the centuries grew as much food as possible to help supplement the family diet and this was regarded as a form of recreation in that they were working for themselves rather than for someone else.

The number of ale houses suggests that beer was consumed on a regular basis and although some of this might have been drunk in the fields whilst working, particularly before tea became the everyday refreshment of the working man, much of it would have been consumed whilst socialising. Wherever there are people, there is soon a group of people and the drinking of alcohol is usually very much a part of any social gathering. Most weddings and baptisms would have been celebrated by family and friends and funerals too presented an opportunity for a get together.

May Day was a day of celebration for the children and there was probably a maypole in the village to be danced around as the church paid 2/= for a "Somerpole" in 1600 which, at a guess, was a maypole. The May Day celebrations were very important to village folk and although it sounds a rather pagan custom, the church obviously condoned it as Churchwardens not only paid for the Somerpole, but in 1612, they paid 5/= for a "Sommerhose" as well. This was used by the village King and Queen of the May. These are the only two references to the festivities until Victorian times, when in 1871 there is an entry in the school records which says that children took garlands of flowers around the village. By this time, it was customary for children to celebrate May 1st in this way, but the school teacher in 1877 was keen to discourage the disruption to school life by offering the children who stayed at school on May Day, sweets as a "reward", or perhaps a "bribe"?

In 1628, there is an entry concerning "Ye Statute for Bowes and arrowes 1 shilling." Men and boys were encouraged to practise archery as well as to take up other sports, presumably to keep them in shape should their services be required on the battle-field. It sounds rather like a Home-Guard or "Dads' Army" with bows and arrows instead of firearms and no doubt the social side of such a get together was enjoyed as much as the sport itself. There is no mention of Butts in North Waltham so it is possible that they might have put targets against the Church wall as was the custom in places which could not provide an alternative site. Sunday was the day on which they were supposed to practise their skill, so that work was not disrupted.

Market day in Winchester and Basingstoke would have provided an opportunity for farmers to meet and enjoy a chat and a drink and the annual sheep fair at Weyhill near Andover, whose origins are of great antiquity was a change of scene for the shepherds who otherwise lived rather solitary lives. Sheep were taken there for sale from a very wide radius. Any opportunity for a break in routine was always welcome.

Once the school was built, the school hall provided a venue for village concerts, and the one which celebrated the opening of the new school was allegedly attended by about three hundred people. This must have been an optimistic estimate on the part of the Basingstoke Gazette reporter as it is difficult to imagine fitting that number of people as well as the performers into the room. The rector and his farnily were the "star turn" and refreshments were provided for the audience. Mention is also made in the school day book of Shrove Tuesday being a day of note and in May 1872, children attended a Triennial Choral Festival in Winchester Cathedral. How the children were taken there and back is not recorded. In July of the same year, the records also state that there was a Camp Meeting of the Yeomanry Cavalry at Cockford Down so children must have been prepared to walk considerable distances for their treats.

Harvest was almost universally celebrated as were Easter and, in a much more low-key way than today, Christmas. Harvest, haymaking, potato picking, acorn gathering (to feed the pigs), fox-hunting and rook shooting are all mentioned as reasons for children being absent throughout the school year and although the children were involved in work on these occasions, it must have seemed a very fair exchange to be out of doors, rather than under the stern eye of the teacher learning the four rules of number, reading, writing and apparently endless amounts of scripture.

The North Waltham Mummers were perhaps the most traditional of country entertainers and they were not disbanded until the 1950s. The official term for a group of Mummers is a "gang" and with a break for the Second World War, they were performing in the area from the end of the First World War. There is no documentation of a gang performing here prior to that date but reputedly they dated back to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Mumming itself is shrouded in antiquity and mystery but to watch the Mummers perform, even if they could not fully understand the story must have been pure entertainment to people who generally depended on themselves for any amusements.

The Batchelor Journals provide evidence of a very lively, fun loving family, who it seems lived life to the full. In addition to the farm accounts and advice concerning medication for a variety of afflictions, there is a long, humorous verse extolling the country gentleman's pastime of hunting and a very frivolous one entitled "Come Kiss me Said He". A young man, Damon, tries to persuade "sweet Sue" to give him a kiss, she declines as all young girls should, he offers marriage in exchange for a kiss. Sue had the situation well under control! She accepts his hand in marriage, but still refuses to kiss him saying "I will kiss when we are wed not till then I declare"

Fun was to be found when and where the opportunity presented itself; leisured moments were a rare commodity for working folk.

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First Posted March 2000 Copyright © Ann Lloyd 1998.

Acknowledgements