PMP2000 > Places > Charnwood History

FAMOUS PEOPLE

ROBERT BAKEWELL (1725-95)
DISHLEY's most famous inhabitant is the agricultural pioneer ROBERT BAKEWELL. Born in 1725, he took over the 440 acres at DISHLEY in 1760, after having travelled widely studying livestock management and the science of pedigree breeding. He was the third generation of BAKEWELLS to live at DISHLEY GRANGE and took over the tenancy of the estate at the age of thirty because of his father's ill health.

ROBERT BAKEWELL had a reputation as a clean living, god fearing man. He did not swear and refused to show stock on a Sunday, no matter how important the visitor. The running of the household at DISHLEY was entrusted to his unmarried sister.

Prior to BAKEWELL, sheep had primarily been used to provide wool rather than meat. But after his experiments and breeding programme, he presented the NEW LEICESTER SHEEP to the world - a barrel shaped animal with a small head and short legs which was bred purely for meat. The average NEW LEICESTER yielded 80 pounds weight of meat as opposed to the previous average of under 30 pounds.

However, Bakewell had had to wait some time for recognition and there had been many critics of his methods of feeding and housing stock.

He had begun by selling his ÒImprovedÓ sheep by private contract, getting no more than two or three guineas for first class animals in 1760. When he had first let some of his rams out for short periods to other farmers, he had only been able to get 15/- (75p) for them for a season. It had taken 10 years before he had been able to command 25 guineas a season. Before his death so much in demand were his beasts, that he had in one instance at least, received 400 guineas for letting a ram out for a season, and one special ram 800 guineas.

Bakewell had developed his New Leicestershire sheep from Lincolnshire stock. To contemporaries the New Leicestershire sheep were known ÒBy the fineness of their bones and flesh, the lightness of the offal and their disposition to quietness and consequently to mature.Ó

Writers of the time argued that, because his sheep were less easily disturbed than other breeds, they fattened better and needed less food. To contemporaries his long horn cattle, developed from Lancashire breeds, were equally noted.

BAKEWELL also bred working horses known as Draught Horses, forerunners of the Shire Horse. These horses were bred for strength with the result that BAKEWELL was the first farmer able to plough using two horses rather than the usual four. He also leased out his stallions, bulls and rams for stud, earning a phenomenal amount of money for the time. One ram alone - "Two-Pounder" - earned 1,200 guineas in one year.

As well as his more renowned livestock breeding, he established the reputation of DISHLEY as a centre of innovatory farm management. One of his most extensive improvements was the construction of an irrigation and drainage system, the evidence of which can still be seen. He even built his own private canal to move crops and materials between the fields and the farmyard. This used DISHLEY BROOK as it's water source and parts of it still exist as a drainage ditch.

BAKEWELL entertained a constant stream of visitors who came from all over the world to study his methods. As there was no Inn near to the farm, BAKEWELL and his sister invited his distinguished guests to stay in their own home. This lavish entertainment was the main reason for BAKEWELL's fluctuating financial stability!

BAKEWELL's work impressed the highest in the land, including the King himself, GEORGE III. He already had a keen interest in all things agricultural, so much so that he was popularly known as "Farmer George" - a nickname he reportedly rather liked. The King asked for one of BAKEWELL's powerful draught horses to be sent to ST JAMES PALACE so he could inspect it for himself.

NICHOLS described his own visit to BAKEWELL's estate in 1804:

"On our return towards Mr Bakewell's house, we were shown the meadows, one of which had been watered by the little navigable cuts made in the ground. It was a dry time and the difference in the appearance of the two pieces of land which adjoined each other, one watered and the other not, was astonishing; that which had been watered had produced two crops of hay that season and the other was in a state of barrenness... The gardens are neat and seem cultivated more for utility than show and in them are fish ponds, well stored and supplied with water..."

BAKEWELL died after what was described as "a tedious illness". His work revolutionised stock breeding and cultivation methods and his influence is still felt today. His scientific approach and meticulous record keeping were blueprints for the breeders who followed. His real monument of course was the increase in the average weight of livestock in the main markets. Between 1710 and 1795 the average weight of oxen had gone up from 370 to 800 pounds, calves from 50 to 150 pounds, and sheep from 38 to 80 pounds. BakewellÕs work and that of other breeders of the period resulted in British pedigree stock being in demand all over the world. A true pioneer who almost single-handedly changed agriculture for ever.