TO understand how society in south-east England changed during the century 1450–1550, it is imperative to start with the depth of the recession in 1450. Agriculture, the bedrock of the medieval economy, was suffering under deflation. Land dropped out of cultivation and was soon to revert to shrub and waste, as thorns and brambles crept over former arable and pasture, and, in the Weald, the work of assarting was undone. In addition, the contraction in overseas trade, especially in the export of wool and cloth, discouraged the keeping of sheep. Tenant farmers were particularly affected, and in many places large tenant flocks geared towards production for the market disappeared, although families may have kept a few animals to satisfy household needs. With few surplus goods available, trade within markets was inevitably curtailed, and the smaller ones, especially within Surrey and Sussex, were abandoned. A shortage of coin encouraged a return to barter, as producers and consumers made private agreements to satisfy mutual needs. So too ecclesiastical houses, when their demesne estates were leased out, were willing to receive animals and grain, not money, in payment from their lessees. Agriculture promised so little in the way of monetary rewards that demand for land dropped. Lords had difficulty in attracting lessees and keeping customary tenants.

Yet these changes gradually worked to the benefit of families living at the bottom end of the social structure. To try to attract tenants, some lords reduced rents and entry fines. Non-inheriting children and the former landless had no trouble acquiring holdings on good terms. The low prices for agricultural goods did not concern those who held just a few acres since they consumed much of what they grew. Many also enjoyed grazing rights that allowed them to keep a cow and a few sheep. They were not dependent on the market for the whole of their sustenance. This decline in the number of food purchasers was another reason behind the disappearance of many small markets. Goods such as salt and manufactured articles that had to be bought in the market cost less than in the past because of the deflation, whereas wages had risen with the general shortage in population.