Map Great Tew 

‘The operations at Great Tew made Mr Loudon a considerable fortune. When winding up the business he found that he had earned over £15,000 by his labours. Earning this sum as a farm worker in Cambuslang would have taken him 1500 years. The money allowed him to relax his exertions and to start planning for his future travels.’ This is a quote from The Claudians: gardens, landscapes, reason and faith: John Claudius Loudon and Claudius Buchanan, Tom Turner (Kindle, 2024).

Sustainable landscape planning for agriculture

John Claudius Loudon's plan for Great Tew Farm is a brilliant precedent for the farm design plans which post-Brexit rural land management initiatives are likely to require. Loudon was passionate about what is now called regenerative agriculture: building up soil fertility in the interest of sustainability. He believed that Britain could and should be entirely self-sufficient in food production.

More about the payment of Scots farm workers

In addition to a wage of about £10/year, labourers could receive in-kind payments of food, lodging and fuel. But there was no possibility for a farm worker to acquire capital or buy property.