swuklink: Bygone Rural <a href="BAAAGBYS.php">Dorset</a>

In spite of Cobbett's admiration of downland farming in Wiltshire, he was also very concious of the polarization of society which it caused with a few wealthy estate and large farm owners depending for their prosperity on the labour of the landless labourers. He was horrified by the long hours which they worked, their poor housing and very low wages. Of the labourers' conditions in the valley of the Wiltshire Avon, he wrote;

deep shame . . . at beholding the general extreme poverty of those who cause this page to produce such quantities of food and raiment. This is, I verily believe it, the worst used labouring people upon the face of the earth.

He was not the only one to comment upon the poverty of the landless labourers and conditions were slow to improve as the reports of parliamentary commissioners from the mid-19th century show. Such a commissioner writing of conditions in Dorset in 1867;

the cottages of this county are more ruinous and contain worse accomodation than those of any other county I have wisited except Shropshire . . . [they] are a disgrace to the owners of the land.

Some landowners did make efforts to improve the housing of their labourers, for example the well-built cottages on the estates of Lord Portman around Blandford Forum and more than 600 cottages which were built around his estates around Wimborne St Giles by the Earl of Shaftesbury.

DORSET
HISTORY

hub: HISTORY OF DORSET

Recommend a Book for this Page

Hits on this page since December 6th

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

current year: previous year:

Links
Locally
Bibliography

ALPHABETICAL
SITE INDEX
Select ;-
Aa-Az Ba-Bz Ca-Cz Da-Dz Ea-Ez Fa-Fz Ga-Gz Ha-Hz Ia-Iz Ja-Jz Ka-Kz La-Lz Ma-Mz Na-Nz Oa-Oz Pa-Pz Qa-Qz Ra-Rz Sa-Sz Ta-Tz Ua-Uz Va-Vz Wa-Wz Ya-Yz
SW COUNTIES

No messages posted on this page

Only Members of the Site can post messages in this section. Signing in is easy from our Home Page.

DISCLAIMER: Whilst we endeavour to ensure the content of this site is correct, we cannot undertake that information you find here, is, or will remain accurate and complete. We do not warrant that any information contained on this site is fit for any purpose. If you wish to place reliance on any such information you must check its accuracy by some other means before doing so.

MEMBERS get aditional features on our pages and will soon be able to interact with the site and add their views and informastion. Sign up, from the Home-Page, is simple and involves typing in your email address and a password of your choice.

If you are in any way connected with any location or interested in the subject mentioned on this page and have an hour or two a month to spare, we would welcome you as a local moderator - please email the webmaster by CLICKING HERE.