Town and Countryside in West Berkshire, c.1400-1600

The project was an investigation into the nature of social and economic change during the transition from the late medieval to early modern periods. This was achieved through a detailed study of urban and rural areas of western Berkshire between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The project aimed to identify criteria with which to measure the experience of change in the late medieval economy and society. The criteria were divided into four categories: taxable wealth, population, landholding and trade. The data were collected at two levels: a regional study employing fiscal records; and studies of the town of Newbury and the rural parishes of Buckland, Kintbury, Shaw and West Hanney that utilised a variety of documentary sources.