View source for Tudor Monastery Farm: Life in rural England 500 years ago by Ruth Goodman, Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold

{{infobox1
|title=Tudor Monastery Farm: Life in rural England 500 years ago
|author=Ruth Goodman, Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=History
|summary=The book to accompany the series makes for good, informative reading even if you haven't seen the television programmes.  A good introduction to the way the Tudor's lived.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=288
|publisher=BBC Books
|date=October 2013
|isbn=978-1849906920
|cover=1849906920
|aznuk=1849906920
|aznus=1849906920
}}

Think of it as time travel.  Three professional historians have travelled back some five hundred years to put what they've learned into practice.  On a monastery farm they've experienced what it was really like in rural Tudor England.  It's a book to accompany the BBC television series but it's still a rich and rewarding experience if - like me - you missed the show. [I hadn't - see the first comment below.] There's a wealth of experience between the three authors and they write about what they each know best and it's all supplemented by some sumptuous photographs of Bayleaf Farm in west Sussex and the surrounding farmland.

It's a monastery farm, so it's necessary for us to understand how the monastic system worked.  Now this is a complex subject which has been the subject of many books, but we're given a very accessible overview which gives a grounding for further study if that's what you want - or enough information to allow you to understand how monastic life impinged on the life of the lay people and the interdependency which grew up, particularly in the areas of trade.  Most fascinating is Ruth Goodman's piece on the Church as Landowner - the monasteries were operating vast agricultural businesses.

''Around the Farm'' looks at the way the farm worked, sometimes in conjunction with the monastery but frequently how it operated (literally) at grassroots level with the open field system.  Goodman comes up trumps again with her pieces on ''Inside the Dairy'' and ''Making Cheese''.  The monasteries were famous at the time for their sheep's milk cheeses which were a by-product of the wool trade.

''The Animals'' was particularly interesting to me as it was obvious from the start that there was no room for emotion with the animals.  They were not kept as pets and had to earn their keep, although Tom Pinfold did seem to ''almost'' cross the line with Sparky the packhorse.  Their love affair was mutual.  Pigs were of a more aggressive nature than I'd been expecting and Graceful and Gwen, the cows were there to pull the plough.  Training them for this took a great deal of work.  It was, though, the geese for whom he had few kind words.  The pigs needed to have a pigsty built - and the sheep required a shearing bench - all of which had to be made out of local materials - whilst the men did this Ruth took to spinning.

''Home and Garden'' covers how the domestic side of the farm was run, from the materials used for cleaning (urine could be ''very'' useful...) through to the clothes which were worn and the manufacture of such useful items as rushlights.  Medicine was limited but there were home remedies which could be found about the farm.  The best part of this section for me was Peter Ginn's piece on beekeeping.

''Crafts, Skills and Trade'' covers the cloth industry, which employed more people than any other activity than agriculture.  Goodman is very good on spinning, weaving and dyeing wool, but I was particularly interested in the development of building trades and particularly stonemasonry.  Tom Pinfold had extensive experience of working with wood, but his excitement at being introduced to blacksmithing comes through.

Goodman takes us through ''Tudor Food and Drink'' and I was struck by the extent to which it mirrored many of the principles by which I eat five hundred years later.  It's all seasonal, with advantage being taken to preserve food for leaner times.  Surprisingly not all bread was made within the home - to the extent that there were regulations about how bread could be sold including its price. Bread was sold at a price fixed by law with the size and weight fluctuating according to the availability and price of flour.  Ale was not a treat as it might be regarded nowadays but an essential part of the calorie intake.  (If you're tempted there are some rather good Tudor recipes included in the book.) 

It's a very accessible look at life in Tudor England at the domestic level and I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.  If I have to quibble about anything I'd like to have known more about the property which was used as the base for the series and the book.

For more from an historian turned television presenter we can recommend [[A Very British Murder: the Story of a National Obsession by Lucy Worsley]].

{{amazontext|amazon=1849906920}} 
{{amazonUStext|amazon=1849906920}} 

{{commenthead}}

{{comment 
|name= Felicia Rubin of Lion TV
|verb= said
|comment= Just a quick note to say you haven’t missed the show. For some reason BBC books have published early as its not scheduled to be on BBC2 until early November. Hope you enjoy it! 
}} 

{{comment 
|name= Sue
|verb= said
|comment= HURRAH!
}} 

[[Category:Ruth Goodman]]
[[Category:Peter Ginn]]
[[Category:Tom Pinfold]]
[[Category:Entertainment]]