ABSTRACT
Industrialisation stimulated the growth of existing towns and the creation of new ones; it also profoundly altered the structure of rural society beyond the towns. The term ‘agricultural revolution’ may be even more misleading than the historian's ‘industrial revolution’ but the term ‘revolution’ could certainly be applied to describe the extent of change which took place, if not the pace at which it occurred. Large areas of land were brought into cultivation and even larger areas changed ownership; new techniques of production created new occupations, while the rapid rise of rural population contributed more labour than the land could profitably employ, thus setting up severe social tensions within the village community. At the same time the high productivity of urban factories undermined rural crafts, destroying many part-time and seasonal opportunities to boost the labourer's slender income. New transport systems made contact with new markets and facilitated the migration of labour. The spread of literacy and the new ideas that went with it began to undermine the traditional authority of the squire and the parson. Urban values were translated into a rural context, but the process operated slowly and motor transport, television and radio have yet to complete what turnpike roads began.
