Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The project was an investigation into the nature of social and economic change during the transition from the late medieval to early modern periods. This was achieved through a detailed study of urban and rural areas of western Berkshire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The project aimed to identify criteria with which to measure the experience of change in the late medieval economy and society. The criteria were divided into four categories: taxable wealth, population, landholding and trade. The data were collected at two levels: a regional study employing fiscal records; and studies of the town of Newbury and the rural parishes of Buckland, Kintbury, Shaw and West Hanney that utilised a variety of documentary sources.Main Topics:There are two types of data in this study: fiscal data for west Berkshire drawn from national taxation records, and manorial data accumulated for geographical case studies. The fiscal data for west Berkshire were collected to measure change in the relative distribution of wealth between the different regions within west Berkshire and within their populations. Change in the size of the population was calculated by the differences in the numbers of men assessed in 1381 and 1522. The manorial data were collected to create biographies of people and land, and to identify the activities of the manorial court. Other additional sources, especially probate wills and inventories, were included so that networks of contacts with other people and their economic and social context could be identified. West Hanney The lands of West Hanney parish were divided between three manors and the rectory. The data are derived from the manorial records of Priors Court manor held by New College Oxford (New College Archive), Seymours Court manor held by the Eyston family of East Hendred for most of the period of study (Berkshire Record Office), and probate wills and...