The middle years of the fifteenth century were a period of economic decline in Winchester, marked by a severe contraction in the size of the population, of which the symptoms were falling rents, the demolition of houses and the closure of parish churches. It has been estimated that the population shrank by about a third between the early fifteenth and mid sixteenth centuries.
By Henry VI’s reign Southampton, favoured with a long sheltered harbour, double tides and easy communications inland, had become one of the busiest ports of later medieval England. Its international trade – born of cross-Channel traffic with Normandy, the import of wine from Gascony and the export of wool and cloth to the Low Countries and the Italian markets – flourished. By the mid fifteenth century Southampton and Sandwich were the principal places for luxury goods from the Mediterranean to be unloaded.
Until the collapse of English rule in France, Portsmouth continued to be used as an important naval station and port of embarkation for armies sent across the Channel and to Gascony. The forces of Richard, earl of Warwick, and Richard, duke of York, successive lieutenants-general of France, were mustered there prior to departure in the summer of 1437 and spring of 1441, respectively.
In terms of size Hampshire, including the Isle of Wight, was the eighth largest English county. Its irregular and deeply indented coastline on the Channel formed a number of sheltered harbours ideal both for merchant shipping and vessels requisitioned by the Crown. Inland the county was well watered by several rivers and, although vast tracts of land were given over to the New Forest and lesser woodlands at Woolmer and Alice Holt, Hampshire was primarily an agricultural county. Most important among its many fairs and markets, the annual St.
The site of a royal castle and an important abbey, the town of Gloucester was one of the more significant middle-ranking parliamentary boroughs of late medieval England. It lay at the lowest bridging point of the Severn, close to several different areas of economic activity: the production of grain in the Severn valley, of wool in the Cotswolds and of timber, charcoal and coal in the Forest of Dean. Historically a centre for the iron and cloth industries, it was also a major market for the sale and exchange of produce, and for the distribution of luxury goods to the nobility and gentry.
One of the most important urban settlements in the realm, Bristol vied with York for the position of the second largest urban centre after London. Poll tax returns suggest that it had over 9,500 inhabitants in 1377 although recurrent outbreaks of plague are likely to have ensured that its population was either static or in slight decline during the period under review. Bristol had much to thank for its geography. First, its position on the Avon, close to the junction of that river and the Severn, and its sheltered harbour and quays made it an ideal centre for overseas trade.
Of average size, Gloucestershire was a fertile and relatively densely populated county. While it possessed few natural boundaries, it had three distinct and scenically varied regions. The largest, in the east, fell within the Cotswolds, hilly and sheep-farming country important for the production of wool. By contrast, the Vale of Gloucester (otherwise the Vale of the Severn) was a low-lying area well suited for the growing of grain and the making of cheese and cider. The third and smallest of these regions was the Forest of Dean in the far west of the county.
Situated on a hill overlooking the confluence of the rivers Blackwater and Chelmer, Maldon was an ancient but small port town that had sent burgesses to Parliament since 1332. It possessed a taxable population of only 542 in 1377 and fewer than 1,000 inhabitants in the mid 1520s. Unlike the considerably larger borough of Colchester, it was a regional marketing centre with no significant industry. It did however come to play a role in the coal trade by the fifteenth century, serving as an entry port for coal and iron ore shipped down the coast from Newcastle.
Situated on the river Colne, Colchester engaged in both coastal and overseas trade through its port of New Hythe, and its position on the road between London and the main east-coast ports ensured good inland communications. An administrative centre, its royal castle served as a base for the sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire but its location in the north-east corner of the county ensured that the smaller but more centrally situated Chelmsford fulfilled the role of county town.
Large, rich and well populated, Essex possessed a coastline longer than that of any other English county. Trade with the continent of Europe was of great significance for its economy, as was its proximity to London since it provided much of the capital’s firewood, hay, meat, dairy produce and other supplies. While predominantly agricultural, Essex also had an important cloth industry in which Colchester played the principal part. N. Pevsner, Buildings of Eng.: Essex, 1-3; T.
