Agriculture-The Land
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Farming methods had not altered very much for hundreds of years, but towards the end of the nineteenth
century, with the advent of steam, and the early part of the twentieth century,
with the development of the internal combustion engine, things did begin to
change.
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SOIL
For example, in the top four-acre comer of the last field before the Winsham road junction with the A30 main road there was a Gorse dividing-hedge and Bracken grew in profusion along the other hedges, providing signs of acidity (over chalk at depth). Further along that same field, all the stones are rounded like a pebble beach (at 773ft) . Other Parish fields display dark loams, sands or in one case, peat. A soil sample of 14 fields on one farm shortly after the War showed no two exactly alike. Few Winsham fields are flat. The Rothamsted Experimental Station 'generalised soil map (1974)' denotes the Winsham area soils as 'Palio-argillic Brown Earths and Stagnolley Soils'. The soils of Winsham are rated 'grade 3'. There are some 'Grade 1' Somerset soils to the north said to be 11 ft thick of loam. These grow potatoes and other market garden crops. Aspect
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OWNERSHIP
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Mr Tom Corr bought Purtington House Farm, Lower Purtington Farm and the whole hamlet. The
two Pile brothers each purchased Midnell Farm and Lue
Farm. Mr Smith later bought Newhouse (Windwhistle) Farm. Puthill Farm was retained in the Cricket orbit.
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