ABSTRACT
Rapid industrial expansion during this period made Wessex the most industrialised region in England; the production of woollen cloth increased dramatically, numerous other crafts, trades and industries flourished, and notable advances were made in agriculture. Population increased, trade developed, towns and ports grew rapidly and there were considerable changes in the structure of society. A new gentry class emerged whose fine houses and estates, parks and gardens are still a major feature of the landscape of the whole region. A much greater number and variety of documentary records exist for this period, so that it is possible to be much more precise about the industrial and farming practices and about social life. The wills, inventories and even account books of landowners, clothiers and farmers survive, as well as an abundance of manorial surveys, maps, court rolls, accounts and legal documents which have been preserved among estate records, royal and college archives or ecclesiastical muniments, giving a detailed picture of farming, land tenure, industrial growth and social change.
