Vines near Groombridge
The Iron Age inhabitants of England imported considerable quantities of wine, but it seems likely that it was the Romans who introduced the first vineyards, and although they had them spread widely across the country, they left no legacy of wine-making. A few vineyards were also cultivated during the Saxon period, but it was the Norman nobles who arrived with William the Conqueror in 1066 who really led to the introduction of successful viticulture and wine-making. Wine making expanded considerably in England during the Middle Ages, particularly on monastic and ecclesiastical estates. The legacy of street names (such as Vine street or the Vineyards) in London and provincial towns and cities - suggests that vines and vineyards were certainly no great rarities. At the time of the compilation of the Domesday Survey in the late eleventh century, vineyards were recorded in 46 places in southern England, from East Anglia through to modern-day Somerset. By the time King Henry VIII ascended the throne there were 139 sizeable vineyards in England and Wales - 11 of them owned by the Crown, 67 by noble families and 52 by the church. It is not exactly clear why the number of vineyards declined subsequently. Some have put it down to an adverse change in the weather which made an uncertain enterprise even more problematic. Others have linked it with the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. Both these factors may have had some part to play but in all probability the decline was gradual (over several centuries) and for more complex reasons. But grape growing and wine-making did not die out entirely. In the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century there is evidence of various noblemen experimenting with growing grapes and making wine. Such small scale experimentation continued through the 19th century, but it was not really until the second half of the 20th century that commercial grape growing and wine making really began to take off. The use of new grape varieties, more suitable growing techniques and improved disease control have helped boost the number of commercial vineyards across the country to over 400. Sparkling wines are the great success story of recent years, with excellent growing conditions and similar soils to the Champagne region of France helping vineyards to consistently produce award winning wines.
Vines near Groombridge
The Iron Age inhabitants of England imported considerable quantities of wine, but it seems likely that it was the Romans who introduced the first vineyards, and although they had them spread widely across the country, they left no legacy of wine-making. A few vineyards were also cultivated during the Saxon period, but it was the Norman nobles who arrived with William the Conqueror in 1066 who really led to the introduction of successful viticulture and wine-making. Wine making expanded considerably in England during the Middle Ages, particularly on monastic and ecclesiastical estates. The legacy of street names (such as Vine street or the Vineyards) in London and provincial towns and cities - suggests that vines and vineyards were certainly no great rarities. At the time of the compilation of the Domesday Survey in the late eleventh century, vineyards were recorded in 46 places in southern England, from East Anglia through to modern-day Somerset. By the time King Henry VIII ascended the throne there were 139 sizeable vineyards in England and Wales - 11 of them owned by the Crown, 67 by noble families and 52 by the church. It is not exactly clear why the number of vineyards declined subsequently. Some have put it down to an adverse change in the weather which made an uncertain enterprise even more problematic. Others have linked it with the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. Both these factors may have had some part to play but in all probability the decline was gradual (over several centuries) and for more complex reasons. But grape growing and wine-making did not die out entirely. In the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth century there is evidence of various noblemen experimenting with growing grapes and making wine. Such small scale experimentation continued through the 19th century, but it was not really until the second half of the 20th century that commercial grape growing and wine making really began to take off. The use of new grape varieties, more suitable growing techniques and improved disease control have helped boost the number of commercial vineyards across the country to over 400. Sparkling wines are the great success story of recent years, with excellent growing conditions and similar soils to the Champagne region of France helping vineyards to consistently produce award winning wines.