The Seventeenth Century Farm - the long term project

Stuart was one of a group of re-enactors interested in the seventeenth century who, 17 years ago, purchased a fifteen-acre farm on the Welsh borders, which had been abandoned in the nineteenth century. The farm had once been a collection of small holdings owned by the local lord and rented by tenant farmers. By the nineteenth century it had become part of an enormous estate farm of 4-500 acres. There are ruins of at least 16 buildings on the fifteen acre site which has at least 3 miles of field boundaries.

The group formed a Trust and began to restore the collapsed buildings and boundary walls and restore the farm to how it was four hundred years ago. They have since excavated and rebuilt some of the farmhouses and outbuildings using period materials, restored the ancient orchards with fruit trees from the era, re-established and started to manage the woodlands, planted contemporary crop varieties and rear period livestock. They take advice from contemporary farming manuals such as Fitzherberts 'Book of Husbandry' and Thomas Tusser's '500 points of Husbanderie'.

A number of trustees share the purchase and care of the livestock on the farm. Stuart explained that they "choose period breeds and share the feeding and care of the animals and when we kill the stock it is put in our freezers!" Records show that in the seventeenth century people would eat roast meat twice per week on Thursday and Sunday. Stuart commented that the meat from the authentic breeds is much tastier but also fattier than modern varieties.

Each spring Tamworth wild boar cross pigs are purchased from Cotswolds Farm Park, the rare breeds survival centre. They have found that 10 pigs on half acre scrubland are quite happy. Stuart laughingly explained how they often tickle the pigs until their legs go straight out and they fall over with a silly grin on their face! He added that the pigs like to sleep in a heap and don't like to be in the pens. The farming manuals warn about looking out for pigs when harvesting so that you don't run over them, indicating that pigs were only shut in when tiny, though the boar might be locked up at other times. Pigs were also let out to run in the woods. The investors know when they kill the pigs for food that they have had a good and happy life.

Welsh Black cattle are now being kept on the farm for the first time They are a hardy breed, so much so that the cows are put out in the middle of winter even at a day old - if it is not too cold. They also milk and breed well. They also keep three horses. Blackthorn, the pit pony featured in the television series is probably of Welsh origin. Her lungs are believed to be slightly damaged and she also suffers from neck problems but is very used to pulling things and coping with a saddle for pack baskets. The project also owns two Dartmoor ponies which were too young to work when filming took place but are now being trained up.

The sheep on the farm are Cotswolds, which can be traced back to the Roman times In the seventeenth century these were only kept for wool, not for food. There is some evidence that they actively discouraged breeding and may even have sent sheep out in the fields with 'nappies' on (called clouts), which were worn as a primitive form of contraception. If the sheep were mated it was just for replacement as they did not want too many lambs (they don't provide wool and they need feeding which uses scare resources)

Many of the ewes on the farm are now 8 years old and each fleece is worth £10. They keep some of the fleeces to make the fabrics used in furnishing the farmhouses. They do not dye wool and have found that the natural greys and browns incorporated in the weave make lovely fabrics.

Dumpy chickens and a cockerel live in back garden of the farmhouse and get put in a big chicken coop at night. This had been on the floor until a badger bent the nails back and go in so now it is on a plinth. Unfortunately they lost a few of the hens during the filming when someone forgot to lock them away and they got eaten by a fox. They have now got 3 hens and get 14 eggs per week though they believe that the breed has a slight genetic problem leading to a higher than usual breeding failure rate. They have never clipped them as they find that if chased out of the gardens a few times they don't go in again.

The orchards have been re-established in about 9 areas of the farm, using information shown on an 1847 tithe map. The largest orchard is about one and a half acres. They keep the orchard in order using sheep rather than cattle as the trees are lower down than those today.

They grow a great variety of apples - 30 types including Devonshire Quarrendon; Cornish Aromatic; 'wise apples' or Court Pendu Plat which flowered so late they missed the frosts; the Leathercoat russet apple which has a skin like suede on the outside and a very intensive flavour that means they are best left for a month to calm down before eating; and the John Apple, an old variety from the 16th and 17th centuries which will keep from one apple season to the next. Some of their trees have been grafted from the National Fruit Collection at the Brogdale Horticultural Trust in Kent others from reputable suppliers such as Scotts Nurseries of Merriott, Somerset.

All the apples are kept in an apple store in the loft of one of the reconstructed farmhouses, and they regularly go up and pick through to remove bad ones. They were concerned that mice would get into the apple store and so they kept two cats - both good 'mousers' on the farm and this worked well. Apples picked in October were still in good condition in May.

The Pears on the farm are Worcester Black or Wardens, as shown on the medieval coat of arms of the city. They are superb for cooking but it can take a while for the new trees to get established. There is an old saying 'pears for your heirs' explaining how you plant pear trees and wait whilst they take years to grow. They also grow Perry Pears, Wild Cherries, Old English Greengages and Medlars. The latter are a fruit, the size of a golf ball, which Shakespeare called 'open arse'. You pick them after the first frost when they are bullet hard and then leave them to partially rot and go squidgy. You then peel them and suck the pulp. Sometimes they ferment and taste like cold spicy baked apple.

One of the rarest trees on the farm is the Wild Service Tree which produces a berry which is known locally as 'chequers' from their speckled markings, these fruits were popular as food in public houses and may have been the source of the name of 'Chequers Inn', many examples of which exist in this South-East corner of England.

The farm also has one of the oldest types of Gooseberry and a walnut tree which may directly date from the 1630s. People in the past collected lots of nuts - chestnuts, hazelnuts, walnuts and he pointed out the origin of 'gathering nuts in May' which probably comes from collecting the baby walnuts which are shed if there are too many of them and which can be pickled.

This is just some of the produce grown on the farm. They also grow Elizabethan peas (Carlin), Martock beans and hops (enough for 8 pints of beer each per day). They get most of their seeds from the Henry Doubleday Research Association. Stuart Peachey has written over 200 books on farming, food, trees and orchards etc in the seventeenth century, based on knowledge from the seventeenth century manuals, probate inventories and period cookery books. If you want to find out about Stuart's publications see the catalogue on the webpage www.hmaltd.freeserve.co.uk