UK Countryside history - 700 BC
By about 700 BC the countryside in many parts of the UK was already owned, managed and planned in much the same way that it is now. Little wildwood remained and the land resource was well planned with field systems in rotation, pasture and coppiced woodland. Hill forts became common and acted as local centres of administration, power and refuge.
- Population
About 3 million widely dispersed over the countryside and farming most
of the land that is currently farmed today.
- Crops
The range of crops grown had widened considerably since the early bronze
age. Although the most important were wheat and barley, oats, tic beans,
vetch, peas, rye, flax and fat hen were regularly grown. Storage of crops
was either in pits or in raised stores and harvest was over several months
- weeds, grain and then straw.
- Livestock
Sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, poultry, geese and ducks. Horses were a new
arrival in the farmsteads but they were not used for work so much as symbols
of status.
- Farming Systems
Farming typically revolved around small hamlets and farmsteads with enclosed
rectilinear fields - each having areas of pasture, arable and wood. Ploughing
became more efficient with the arrival of the iron share (plough point)
and a two field rotation was introduced; crops one year followed by a
fallow that was grazed by livestock. This lead to surprisingly high yields
and fueled population growth, even though retreat from the uplands had
been necessary because of climate deterioration.
- Woodland & Hedges
In southern parts of the country, most of the wildwood had been cleared
and given way to farming or coppice management. In northern parts, or
where the ground was particularly unsuitable for agriculture, wildwood
remained, but under constant threat. Land around the farmsteads was usually
enclosed by hazel fencing or hedging.
- Social Economy
Efficient farming led to food surpluses and a developing social hierarchy
through the period with administration and power centred on the hill forts.
Trade would have been buoyant with Europe; exported corn, cattle hides,
tin, gold and iron in exchange for wine and olive oil. The first coins
appeared although they were more items of wealth and status than trade.
There is evidence too of standardised pottery and this suggests that weights
and measures were controlled to provide consistency in trade.
- Climate
The climate of the iron age was much cooler and wetter by comparison with
that of the bronze age - but was probably similar to that of today.
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