SECOND ‘DOMESDAY
BOOK’ TO GO ONLINE
uniteLANDWORKER Autumn 2024
The
achievements of farmers and agricultural labourers on 300,000 English and Welsh
farms who fed the nation in World War II is amongst the most requested record series
at The National Archives. It is therefore great news that a £2.13 million grant
from the Lund Trust will help digitalise the 1941 National Farm Survey, (1941
NFM) described as the ‘Second Domesday’ book.
Prior to
1939 only eleven of 33 million tons consumed annually was produced in Britain. Hitler
thus set out to starve our ancestors by torpedoing convoys bringing food from
North America. In response farms were revitalised after the state took control
by establishing County War Agricultural Committee’s to propel farming
into postwar productivism.
Playing an
essential part in the defeat of fascism, run down farms were revitalised to boost
annual production to 22.5 million tons of food, much of which was also healthier
to consume. Remarkably all this was done despite many farms not having any
electricity.
The 1941 NFM is one of the most comprehensive records of
land held at the National Archives. Currently though ‘the complex filing of the
paper record makes it difficult for readers to order and use, with the records
only available in physical copy.’
The new funds will digitalise the records allowing in due
course each farm to be searchable online by, amongst others, family historians.
Analysis by historical economists, geographers and ecologists
may also offer an opportunity to explore how the state can today play a role in
boosting food production.
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