The
agricultural life of the village changed very little as there was
still the need for hard work on the land in growing crops, rearing
cattle, and carrying on the many linked trades. Only those in charge
would have changed. The lord of the manor's lands would be worked by
serfs who were due to give certain days of service, and they would
have their own strip of land allocated to them to produce crops for
their own use. In these early medieval times, a field would be marked
out into long narrow strips, which would be allocated to the
peasants, looking somewhat like the allotments of today. As late as
the 16th century,
a field called Gallows Field at Broadway, near the 'Triple
Plea' on the Bungay Road was still farmed in strips.
Within
the demesne lands, the private lands of the lord of the manor, the
rotation of crops would have allowed for two out of three fields to
be cultivated each year, with a third lying fallow to allow it to
refresh its richness. Barley and oats were cultivated. At Halesworth
Manor in the early 14th century, about 17 or 18 unfree men had 'bond
land' which they farmed in return for services to the lord of
the
Manor. After about 1300, these services were often in the form of
payment in money, or in produce.