ABSTRACT
England in 1400 was overwhelmingly a rural country and, by today's standards, very thinly peopled, its total population being probably about 2¼ millions. The English countryside was a mosaic of heterogeneous regions and of great diversity within the regions. In the uplands of west Somerset and in mid-Devon for example, the arable land lay in strips within a multiplicity of irregular, small fields which were determined largely by the uneven nature of the terrain. Forests were numerous both in lowland England and upland England, north and west of the Exe-Tees line. The most famous contemporary relic of 'classical' system is at Laxton in Nottinghamshire where a virtually complete open-field system still operates. This 'classical' system of open-field farming was also to be found in other parts of England, such as the Welsh marshes. Another important variation of the open-field system was the 'run-rig' or 'infield-outfield' system which was common in areas of poorer land in north-west England.
