A history of cornwall online - through its objects
Farming
A hard-won occupation
By fish, tin and copper you will know a Cornishman (or woman), they say. But agriculture has provided the most steady and long-term wealth to Cornwall.
The hands of its farmers since theBronze Ageperiod have shaped our intricate field systems and put food on our table.
Cornwall’s river valleys are less well known than its coast. They have for many centuries been vital to the dispersed settlements living inland. For millennia our rivers provided power for water mills to grind grains such as barley and wheat into flour.
Orchards are another feature of the Cornish landscape that is seldom seen today. As well as grinding grain for flour, mills were used to work giant apple presses to make cider. Cider had been the staple drink of Cornish labourers since the Middle Ages, and craft cider has recently enjoyed a renaissance.
Animals were not just reared on Cornish farms for their meat and milk, but were also used as beasts of burden. Before the adoption of horse-drawn tractors in the mid 19th century, oxen pulled heavy ploughs to prepare and harvest the fields.
Before the advent of the motorcar, horse dung was a familiar sight on our streets. This manure, like the seaweed that washed onto beaches, was a valuable and natural fertiliser which was collected and used by Cornish farmers to cultivate their crops.