County Farm Estate history

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History and background

Wiltshire’s Rural Estate was developed following the enactment of the Smallholdings and Allotments Acts of 1907 and 1908. Under these Acts, all Councils had a statutory duty to meet the demand of applications by young persons to enter into farming. This was seen by some as a social experiment to overcome concerns related to rural depopulation. However, the demand in each parish was to be satisfied as far as possible by the provision of land in that parish. While much of the land then made available for smallholdings was purchased outright, at the same time, arrangements were also made with many private landowners to make land available to meet the demand. Funding for such land was provided by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Development of the Estate

The demand for opportunities by Lady Day (25 March) 1908 was very strong with 692 applications for a total of 5,452 hectares (13,473 acres) which increased to 1,049 applications a year later. During the same time, 183 had been provided with a holding by the Council and 118 by private landowners. By Lady Day 1915, 2,499 hectares (6,177 acres), of which 1,145 hectares (2,829 acres) had been leased, were occupied by 278 tenants a fair proportion being 'bare land' holdings of 4 hectares (10 acres) or less.

After the First World War, the Land Settlement (Facilities) Act 1919 encouraged Councils to expand their estates to accommodate, in particular, the settlement on the land of the returning ex-servicemen who had to be given preference over all other applicants. Applications increased and consequently the estate grew to 4,499 hectares (11,119 acres) by January 1923 and to 6,879 hectares (17,000 acres) with 650 tenants by Lady Day 1926. A greater proportion of these were now equipped 'full time' 15 ha to 20 ha (40-50 acre) holdings as opposed to the pre War 'part time bare land' holdings mentioned above.

Central Government subsidised the estates by repaying all losses 'reasonably and necessarily' incurred by each Council in providing smallholdings, but in consequence kept a tight control over management (to include setting rents) and expenditure. By 1925 the national subsidy was extremely heavy and the land settlement policy was subsequently reconsidered and two important changes were made:

1. From 31 March 1926, complete responsibility of Estates would be transferred to their respective County Councils.
2. State subsidy was lowered from 100% of total loss incurred to 75% with the Council having to finance the other 25% loss. Also, the Council could only incur a loss, for which grant would be paid, with the previous consent of the Ministry of Agriculture.

From 1926 onwards, before providing smallholdings, Councils were legally bound to be satisfied that the persons desiring to lease them were suitable and would themselves properly cultivate the holdings. After implementing this duty and assessing the real demand, the Estate by 1938 had decreased in size to 6,400 hectares (15,815 acres) and continued to get smaller when in 1945, the estate extended to 6,001 hectares (14,829 acres) with 412 tenants.

The Agriculture Act 1947

The next major influence on the management and administration of the estate was the Agriculture Act 1947. Part IV of this Act provided that “For the purpose of affording to persons with agricultural experience an opportunity of becoming farmers on their own account, it shall be the duty of every County Council ……to provide smallholdings, for letting to such persons as aforesaid, to the extent to which a demand therefore is indicated by applications received by the Council, suitable land can be obtained for the purpose, and the smallholdings can be provided without detriment to the general interest of agriculture.”

In 1950 and at the request of the then Minister for Agriculture, the estate was comprehensively reviewed by the Council for the specific purpose of ascertaining what steps were necessary to reorganise the Estate to give effect to the principles contained in the 1947 Act to bring it into line with the new smallholdings policy and how and when those steps should be taken. This resulted, amongst other things, in the identification of the need to acquire further land and to invest in the estate to modernise its holdings to comply with Milk and Dairies Regulations.

By 1955 the estate had been reorganised and reduced to 5,513 hectares (13,623 acres). In 1960 the Smallholdings Committee decided to provide an additional rung in the farming ladder by reorganising the estate to allow the creation of “promotion holdings” of over 30 hectares (75 acres). During the mid 1950’s it was apparent that there were shortcomings with the Act of 1947 and the then Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food announced the setting up of a Committee of Inquiry into Smallholdings Policy under the Chairmanship of Professor Michael J. Wise, M.C., Ph.D., F.R.G.S.

The “Wise Committee” study into the future of smallholdings ultimately formed the basis for the development of further legislation. The Agriculture Act 1970 introduced a requirement for each authority to review the structure of its Estate with the principal objective of rationalising and amalgamating holdings into more viable units to face the then perceived continuing challenges of expansion of food production and the need to gain economies of scale.

By 1976 and after reviewing its estate with the consent of the Minister for Agriculture, farms were amalgamated and the estate was rationalised further to 5,352 hectares (13,227 acres). This concept of reviewing and rationalising the estate has continued to this day to allow the estate to be developed and adapted to industry changes.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the estate was maintained at or around 4,766 hectares (11,777 acres) with 121 farms, two small bare land holdings, 13 cottages and 12 allotments.

The County Farms Service, just like any other service, has had to compete for scarcer resources and during a review in 1997, some farms were designated as surplus to the requirements of the service due to their scattered location, future financial liability in terms of management and fixed equipment and limited amalgamation opportunities to provide viable units. These units were to be offered in the first instance to the sitting tenants at the best price possible with sufficient time allowed for the best price to be achieved.

Wiltshire’s Estate, like many other County Farms Estates has been used to contribute to the generation of Capital Receipts to support other vital services such as Highways, Education and Social Care. The estate currently extends to 2,185 hectares (5,400 acres) with 36 equipped farms, 9 cottages and numerous parcels of bare land.

In England, Local Authorities hold a total of 96,000 hectares (237,000 acres) [2010 figures] for the County Farms Service. The largest Estates are to be found in the predominantly arable East Anglian counties.

References

• Wiltshire Council. 1955. Report on the Smallholdings Estate. Smallholdings Committee
• Wiltshire Council. 1965. Report on the Smallholdings Estate 1955 - 1965. Smallholdings Committee.
• HMSO. 1967. Departmental Committee of Inquiry into Statutory Smallholdings, Final Report (The Wise Report).
• DEFRA. 2010. Sixtieth Annual report to Parliament on smallholdings in England. 1 April 2009 - 31 March 2010. Product Code 13455.

Last updated: 21 June 2011