Agricultural History Review, Volume 51 Part 1 (2003), p. 120

In 1539 Barking Abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII and subsequently granted by him to William Petre, the son of a Devon tanner and Secretary of State to Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary Tudor. The land formed the basis of an estate that eventually included over 30,000 acres. Fortunately for historians, William founded not only the Petre estate in Essex, but also an estate archive. This included records saved from the muniments room of the abbey. Altogether an archive of over 2000 ‘ancient’ or pre-Dissolution records along with many later documents ranging from manor court rolls, charters, surveys and maps to account books, leases, crop books and wills is located on the estate, at the Essex Record Office, and at Wadham College, Oxford. The earliest surviving document in the archive is a charter from the reign of King Stephen. Agrarian archives relies heavily on these records, along with some from Scottish estates, to document rural development from prehistoric to modern times.

The task was ambitious, possibly too ambitious. There is often an ambiguity about the book. Is it a general history or an examination of an archive? The author seems uncertain. For the medieval and early modern period the book, based almost entirely on documentary evidence from the Petre archives, is an excellent study of the archive. Dr Minton quotes extensively from the records. Documents are placed in context. A range of topics from woodland management and medieval deer parks to field systems, the annual calendar of labour and land holding patterns are examined. Material is compared over time and across a range of different types of records including surveys and manor court roles, leases and history review accounts. The author skilfully uses the Petre archive as foundation from which to explore agrarian issues. For the later period, particularly from the nineteenth century, the nature of the book alters. The close relationship between the Petre documents and text ends and more emphasis is placed on secondary sources and, perplexingly, on Scottish estate records. The contrast between the two approaches is stark. For example, the author convincingly uses a survey from 1280 along with other documentary evidence to argue that from the thirteenth century there was no open field system functioning in those Essex parishes later owned by the Petre family. However, a later section relying almost entirely on modern sources and devoted to Midland enclosures, is also included. Although most of the first 200 pages of the volume and the 78 pages of the appendices are about Essex, the section on enclosure makes only passing, nonspecific reference to the county. As a general history of rural Britain, the book is unconvincing. There are other more widely researched studies available.

As a study of an archive, Agrarian archives has much to recommend it. The exceptional material in the archive is well presented. There are eleven appendices containing various documents and maps. It should be ideal for comparative studies. Unfortunately very few of the documents used in the text have been sourced. Possibly this was the result of the death of the author during the final preparation of the volume for publication. Without source information future historians will find it difficult to locate individual records in an extensive archive split between several repositories.