History continued

ECONOMIC HISTORY
In 1086 there were 3 ploughlands and 4 teams of which 1 was in demesne, worked by 2 servi; 5 villani, 4 bordars, and 2 cottars farmed the remainder. There was 5 a. of meadow and recorded livestock comprised 4 cattle, 21 pigs, 11 goats, and 30 sheep. The value of the estate was £3. (fn. 97)
In 1086 woodland ½ league long by 4 furlongs wide was recorded. (fn. 98) In 1294 the demesne estate included 40 a. of underwood, (fn. 99) but in 1441 the 80 a. of recorded wood was unprofitable. In 1842 there was 39 a., half at Upton wood in the north of the parish. There was a small reduction to 31 a. in 1905 but Upton wood survives. A wood called Redley, whose site is unknown, was recorded c. 1142 and was cut down in the 16th century.
In the 13th century tenants in Batcombe had common pasture in Upton. In 1294 the demesne estate included 150 a. of arable and 7 a. of meadow, the whole worth c. 34s.; the rents of villein tenants produced 40s. In 1441 the 105 a. of arable was of low value, and there were 14 a. of meadow and 8 a. of pasture. Tenant farmers probably depended on common grazing and rights for grazing cattle and pigs on the waste still survived in the 18th century when most of the land was in closes. Farming was then said to be indifferent and the land needed draining. There were four farms and labourers were paid 1s. a day and drink.
In 1836 the land was said to be not very fertile and only 36 out of 57 families were employed in agriculture, a decline since 1821. By 1841 several families, numbering c. 45 persons, had migrated to neighbouring parishes. (fn. 12) Of the nine holdings over 10 a. in 1842 only three were over 100 a. and a further two between 50 a. and 100 a. In 1851 three of the six recorded farms were under 100 a. and 27 labourers were employed. There were many pauper families and people described as unemployed or former farmers. In 1861 there were two farms with over 300 a. and four small holdings but by 1871 there was only one large farm, Manor farm, with 360 a.
In 1841 a tithe valuation recorded 110 cows with calves and 110 pigs. Each cow could produce 3 cwt. of cheese. There was 5½ a. of orchard producing 2 hogsheads per acre. Of 200 a. of arable 50 a. was under wheat, 40 a. under oats, 16 a. under barley, 46 a. under clover, half fed and half mown, 8 a. under potatoes producing 50 sacks per acre, and 40 a. was fallow. The 183 a. of meadow could produce 16 cwt. of hay per acre. There was 12 a. of garden valued at £6 an acre.
One family made and sold cheese in the later 19th century. By 1905 there was only 25 a. of arable and 597 a. was under permanent grass. In the 1940s the land was noted for cheesemaking and two farms put up for sale in 1947 had cheese rooms. Manor farm, reduced to 108 a. but with additional dairying land bought in 1932, was a dairy farm.
Clothmaking had been established in the parish by 1451 and a local woman left a dyehouse to her daughters in 1578. In the late 18th century the poor were employed in spinning and knitting. Three shopkeepers were recorded in 1859 and in 1861 there was a tobacco dealer. Other occupations included a carpenter with a sawing engine in 1861 and a coach builder in 1871. The railway provided employment for some labourers by 1861. There were limekilns beside the Bruton-Frome road in the west in the late 19th century. One shop and a post office remained in the parish in 1947 but the shop had closed by 1981 leaving only the post office in business.