Farmland Use, as reported by the Agricultural Census

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Year Permanent Grass Arable
1871 12,435,442 Show data context
1891 16,433,850 Show data context 16,484,664 Show data context
1901 16,827,249 Show data context 15,590,196 Show data context
1911 17,446,870 Show data context 14,647,788 Show data context
1931 17,281,162 Show data context 12,634,358 Show data context
1961 11,629,453 Show data context 17,072,815 Show data context
Date: Source:
1871 - 1911 Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics (HM Stationery Office) ,
1931 Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, Scottish Agricultural Statistics (HM Stationery Office) ,
1961 Great Britain Historical GIS Project

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nCube definition


The Agricultural Census was not primarily a land use survey, but it did record the area of 'Arable Land' in each farm, and the area of 'Permanent Grass'. The latter was sometimes sub-divided into grass 'for Hay' and 'not for Hay'. The Scottish Farm Census in 1961 classified grassland not into 'Permanent' and 'Rotation' but into grassland aged over and under 7 years old; we treat the latter as being equivalent to 'rotation', and therefore as arable. We do not include the area of 'Rough Grazings' here as it was not r...


ecorded for all dates.


How to reference this page:

GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Great Britain Dep through time | Agriculture & Land Use Statistics | Farmland Use, as reported by the Agricultural Census, A Vision of Britain through Time.

URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10090283/cube/AGCEN_FARM

Date accessed: 24th April 2024