Settlement, land use and population in the western portion of the Forest of Arden, Warwickshire, between 1086 and 1350

The Arden area of north-west Warwickshire developed its regional personality during the early Middle Ages as the result of being by-passed by the main wave of Anglo-Saxon colonisation. From the eleventh to the early fourteenth centuries the area saw a vigorous colonising movement whose character was determined partially by the extent of early settlement, and hence the amount of woodland and waste surviving, and partially by seigniorial policy. This movement differed from the Anglo-Saxon colonisation, which led to the establishment of common open fields, in that clearing was a matter of private initiative and resulted in the creation of enclosed several ties. Manorial lords were compelled to offer some form of inducement to settlers, and this took the form of a less rigid application of the manorial regime, so that the typical tenure of Arden was free socage, and dues were largely rendered in cash. These concessions encouraged the movement of population into the area especially those manors where free tenure was predominant, and led indirectly to the appearance of a vigorous land market. The processes of fragmentation, agglomeration and exchange which resulted from this encouraged social mobility, and led to the emergence of sub-manors in the hands of wealthy free tenants, and to a reduction in the number of small independent freeholdings. While the economy of Arden was based upon true mixed fanning, it is likely that pastoralism produced much of the capital available to both lord and peasant