LEAH'S LEYLAND - Lancashire County Council

AGRICULTURE
In 1841, Leyland contained about 2,200 acres of meadow and 940 acres
of arable land. This was owned by various landowners, James Nowell
Farington owning the most, and let to tenant farmers. In general the
larger farms would grow cereals and graze cattle, with smaller ones
concentrating on dairy produce. James Farington and his father William
took a lead in agricultural improvements, but increasing efficiency and
mechanization meant fewer farm labourers were needed. Because of
this many labourers and smallholders took up handloom weaving to
make a living.
The drainage and reclamation of mossland to the west of Leyland and
Farington was carried out over a long period of time, producing very
fertile farm-land. By the 1870s Leyland was referred to as ‘the garden of
Lancashire’. At Leyland’s Agricultural and Horticultural Society Show in
1855, the prize for best cultivated farm went to Jonathan Swann, who
had 14 acres of wheat, 12 acres of potatoes, and 4 acres of beans and
turnips. He also had orchards and gardens, and made cheese.
Today the fields such as those farmed by Jonathan Swann have been
swallowed up by urban or industrial development. But travel along
Dunkirk Lane towards Bretherton, for example, and you still find large
areas of well-drained land under cultivation.
Up to 1836 the ‘Tithes’ were a tax whereby people had to give a tenth of
their produce toward the upkeep of the Incumbent of the parish church.
This produce was stored in a tithe-barn, many of which still exist, but it
was a troublesome tax for the vicar to collect. Under the Tithe
Commutation Act of 1836 tithes were commuted to a rent-charge;
Commisioners were appointed to assess fair land values on which to
base a monetary tax. This tax was abolished altogether in 1925.
On the next page is an extract from the “Apportionment of the rent
charge, in lieu of the tithes, in the township of Leyland, in the Parish of
Leyland”
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