Buildings and property in a state of change : Manor estates, vicarages and farms in Uppland during the agrarian revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries

The thesis is about what the buildings at manor estates, vicarages and farms looked like and how they changed during the agrarian revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. Through new clearings, mechanisation, land partition, and increased work distribution and specialisation, production increased vigorously during the period, which generally caused an increase in prosperity and lay the foundation for the subsequent industrial revolution. The aim was to study how houses and outbuildings were affected by changes in agriculture, household composition and work organisation, an area which to date has been relatively unexplored. The study, which was based on conditions in Lagunda, a flat-country town in central Sweden, shows that there has been both change and continuity in building developments. The buildings became increasingly larger as arable land acreage and livestock numbers increased, and they were also gradually rendered more efficient to facilitate production. The increase in profit led in turn to an increase in the standard of living and both houses and outbuildings were increasingly lavishly built. However the increasingly larger and better buildings were not only a product of improved economy but also a response to the increasing need for manifestation felt by the manor owners, clergymen and farmers whereby they could clearly mark their positions in relation to each other and to a growing class of non-propertied people. The boundaries between family and employee, as well as between ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ functions, were all the more clearly demarcated, both indoors and outdoors. Even if the changes were considerable on the whole, there was a clear line of continuity. Household reproduction was the primary aim and providing for the family could not be jeopardised, which explains why most changes took place in small steps at a time