EVERTON.
A RUINED VILLAGE
Extract from the Bedford Mercury 1879, during the
Agricultural Depression
This
village 12 years ago (1867) was one
of the happiest and prosperous in the county. The farms, eight in number,
were let to respectable, well-to-do tenants, most of whom were born upon
the soil they cultivated, and whose ancestors were natives of the village. But
since then there has been a total change both in landlords and tenants. Some years ago, when the land-hunger was at
its height, the estate, comprising 1,700 acres, was sold; all the old tenants
were evicted; the land was let to strangers at advanced rental, and an entirely
new system of management was inaugurated by the gentleman who took the
management of the estate. The farms were not long occupied. The advanced rent,
like the last straw, made itself felt, and tenant after tenant found themselves
obliged to give up their holdings; they were succeeded in some cases by other
tenants, who, like their predecessors, eventually succumbed, until at length
the village has become almost deserted by farmers. Seven farmhouses are unoccupied by farmers, one or two are shut
up, and the others are occupied by either bailiffs or labourers. The whole of
the land, with the exception o one farm and some garden land, is in the hands
of the estate agent, who is carrying on the cultivation at the expense of the
landlord. The labour employed is so small that labourers have to go out of the
parish for employment, whereas during the time when the land was farmed by
farmers there was not
sufficient labour in the place, and labourers from other villages had to
be obtained. The land, as might be expected, has not much advanced in
cultivation, and the houses and buildings appear to be falling rapidly
into decay. The probability is that there is not so much money spent in the
village by £2,000 a year as there was twelve years ago. This has made its
effect felt, and a most dependant tone
pervades the whole
place. We were informed
by a resident that the landlords
used to clear £3,000 a year from this estate, but that now, and for the last
four years, he believed that they had lost £3,000 a year. The estate
is in the hands of
trustees, the gentlemen to
whom it belongs, not being of age, and it is hoped
that when the proprietor attains his majority a happier state of things may
result.
(Beds. Mercury, Saturday September 27, 1879)
See what happened two
years later.