About 1300 London achieved a level of population which was much higher than generally has been supposed, and which was not to be equalled again for at least another 250 years. The aim of the project is to measure the impact on its hinterland of the city's demand for food and other supplies at this early peak of its development. Manorial account rolls and other sources will be used to define specialised agricultural zones and patterns of distributing the produce within a study area comprising ten counties around the capital.

See also Feeding the City II: London's impact on the agrarian economy of southern England, c.1290-1400

Publications

Derek Keene, 'Medieval London and its region', London Journal, xiv (1989), 99-111; James A. Galloway and Margaret Murphy, 'Feeding the City: Medieval London and its agrarian hinterland', The London Journal, 16, no. 1 (1991), pp. 3-14; Bruce M.S. Campbell, James A. Galloway and Margaret Murphy, 'Rural land-use in the metropolitan hinterland, 1270-1339: the evidence of Inquisitiones Post Mortem', Agricultural History Review, 40, pt. 1 (1992), 1-22; Margaret Murphy and James A. Galloway, 'Marketing animals and animal products in London's hinterland circa 1300', Anthropozoologica, 16 (1992), 93-99; James A. Galloway, Margaret Murphy and Olwen Myhill (eds.) Kentish Demesne Accounts up to 1350: A Catalogue (CMH, 1993); Bruce M.S. Campbell, James A. Galloway, Derek Keene and Margaret Murphy, A Medieval Capital and its Grain Supply: Agrarian Production and Distribution in the London Region, c.1300 (Historical Geography Research Series, No. 30, 1993).

Reports

CMH Annual Reports 1988-9, 1989-90, 1990-1; End of Award Report; Tenth Anniversary Conference paper

Project details

Associate Supervisor: Bruce M.S. Campbell, B.A. Ph.D.
Researchers: James A. Galloway, M.A., Ph.D., Margaret Murphy, B.A., Ph.D.
Funded by: The Leverhulme Trust (Ref: F.264C) (1 September 1988-31 August 1991)
Amount Awarded: £136,300