| Although scholars of medieval England continue to study agricultural history and rural economics at length, the story of the social development of the countryside still receives little attention. The material structures that survive of agricultural progresses are likewise not widely understood. Research into barns has focussed on understanding building styles. This dissertation sets out to examine the role of the grain barn within its historical and sociological contexts. Impressive as they are, these great barns reveal little about the development of a rational technique for building. They are far more important for furthering our understanding of social status and the perception of labor in the Middle Ages.;Data is drawn from the records and remains of sites in a nine-county study area across southern England (Essex, Kent, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and Somerset). The information is set out in a lengthy Gazetteer following the main text. The first chapter identifies the major grain-growing regions, charts the patterns of yields throughout our period, and collects what is known about systems of supply. Chapter Two seeks to understand the growth cycles of the major crops cultivated, and the means by which they were grown, harvested, and stored. Chapter Three is a typological study of the structures of the barns and their settings. An examination of what survives in the literature, and an investigation of a number of examples that were built provides insight and understanding of the form, dimensions, plans, arrangement, structural configuration, and materials used in barns. This in turn allows ideas to be traced. The people involved in the process of storage were no less important than the techniques. Chapter Four considers the role of the landowners. It reconsiders the widely accepted view that owners were primarily motivated by a rational pursuit of financial profit. An alternative solution is offered that argues for a greater appreciation of the forces of prestige and status. This leads to a consideration of the laborers and how they perceived the manorial barn as a reflection of the struggles they faced with their lords. |
