The Rabbit in the Medieval Economy

A proceeding from a court at Westwood near Dunwich in Suffolk in 1442 illustrates the high status of the rabbit. In the autumn of that year, three Augustinian canons from Blythburgh Priory had been caught poaching rabbits with their own, specially reared, greyhounds - a flagrant display of the increasing worldliness of the religious orders. The outraged court officials fined them the substantial sum of 46s 8d (three and a half marks), further recording that the activity had the express knowledge and support of no less a person than the Prior himself.

The high fine imposed on the priory indicates the importance of the rabbit in the fifteenth century. The story suggests that the animal, being scarce, is not native to Britain. It is perhaps surprising then to find that despite obvious success in breeding, the rabbit is a comparatively late introduction to mainland Britain, later than the period of the Norman kings.

The rabbit, unlike the native hare, is a French introduction. In 1176, it was known that there were rabbits on the Scilly Isles. It is likely that they had reached the Isle of Wight by 1225. Some rabbit bones have been unearthed at Rayleigh Castle, indicating that they had been buried there probably in the first quarter of the thirteenth century; they had been eaten there but not necessarily raised there. The origin of these rabbits may have been the islands off the Essex coast, such as Foulness and Wallasey, both manors in the Honour of Rayleigh.

The earliest reference to the rabbit found in Britain is a mention in a charter of 1204. The existence of a coneygarth dates from 1241, when the king ordered hay to be carted from his cuningera at Guildford. There are earlier indirect references; for example in 1235, the king presented a gift of decem couninos vivos from his park in Guildford, and in 1242 he sent men there to catch thirty or forty rabbits secundum quod invenerint prefatum cuneram fertilem. No case of trespass involving the rabbit has been traced before 1268, when Richard, Earl of Cornwall, complained that his 'coney warren' (or coneygarth) at Isleworth, Middlesex, had been broken into.

A royal charter conferred the right of 'free-warren'. It permitted the recipient the sole right to hunt specified beasts within the warren. These beasts ranged from the fox, hare, pheasant, partridge and rabbit, but did not include the beasts of the Forest, deer and wild boar. At this time there were many such grants made, enabling landowners to breed and hunt these 'lesser' animals. However, only occasionally do these grants mention the specific animals reserved for the owner; most commonly such named animals were the hare and fox, at least into the early thirteenth century.

The Spread of the Rabbit

In 1240, the king ordered a supply of rabbits from a number of his sheriffs; three returns were received - 100 rabbits from the bishop of Winchester, 200 from the Earl of Warenne, and a further 200 from a court high official. In 1243, the king had requested 200 from the estates of the bishop of Winchester, 100 of these coming from the Isle of Wight, and 300 from the estates belonging to the archbishop of Canterbury. Parks would have been stocked with live rabbits, and this trade between king and aristocracy was an indication of its status and value. The rabbit would eventually be served at the royal table.

The critical period for the spread of the rabbit appears to be from about 1230 to 1250 when there are numerous records of the stocking of parks. The breeding would be encouraged by the construction of low mounds, 'pillow mounds', to enable the rabbit to colonise easily. Such an earth mound is depicted in the Luttrell Psalter, published between 1320 and 1340, the rabbits within the mound depicted as being attacked by a pine marten. As may be imagined from the care devoted to its rearing, the rabbit remained a very expensive meat during the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, costing four or five times as much as chicken, and hence was regarded as a luxury. In consequence, the skins were also much in demand as well.

By 1305, the rabbit population was sufficient to enable skins to be exported and a record from the port of Hull, dating from 1305, refers to the export of 200 fells or skins. By the mid-sixteenth century, rabbits were plentiful. Conrad Gesner wrote in 1555: 'There are few countries where coneys do not breed, but the most plenty of all is in England.' At about the same time Richard Hakluyt pointed that the export of black coney skins might well be increased, presumably because they sold at a premium.

Later Developments

The right to keep and kill rabbits was exclusive to the owners of free-warren. It was a valuable privilege. Most East Anglian villages had been granted free-warren by the 1280s. The rabbit did not colonize easily, and it is likely that most warrens were artificial creations. Few medieval warrens culled more than 3,000 rabbits in one year but culling generally fluctuated wildly. Henry III requested the bailiff of Guildford to send fifty rabbits to Windsor but only if the loss could be sustained.

Enclosed deer-parks were sometimes used for breeding rabbits, sometimes excluded from crops through the use of an internal ditch. A substantial deer-park at Lopham produced 300 rabbits for the Countess of Norfolk in 1386. Most warrens, although not necessarily allowing the hunting of the rabbit, had been founded by the late thirteenth century, but sometimes the rabbit (cunicularium) was subsequently added to a charter.

By 1341, there are indications that the rabbit population was thriving, with land uncultivated and crops being reported as destroyed by them. In 1391, Mildenhall, in Cambridgeshire, had lost its oat crop through such activity. There were complaints that church tithes had reduced. Poor winters in the mid-fifteenth century required warrens to be restocked.

Warreners were well paid. At Dunningworth the warrener was paid fifty-two shillings a year, while in the fifteenth century, the warrener at Ely Abbey was paid £5, but the Abbey reserved the right to dismiss him if the work was unsatisfactory. The warrener could be assisted by additional men or by a ferreter.

Revenues from the rearing of rabbits increased markedly in the fourteenth century. At Lakenheath, for example, revenue from the warren was double the revenue from wool, previously the staple product from the demesne. Exporting the skins was now 'big' business and there are numerous examples of enabling licences being granted by the king. John Calwere shipped 12,000 fells to Flanders in 1365, and in 1383 Collard Chierepetit exported 10,000 to Holland; William Groom and others each exported 5,000 fells of rabbits.

Poaching was a flourishing pastime as court proceedings document. In 1435, the parson of Cressingham, Norfolk, owed a £10 amercement for poaching in Swaffham. In 1425, Thomas Sherman, an Augustinian canon from Blythburgh Priory, was known as 'a poaching canon'. Another Blythburgh canon, leased well-trained ferrets to other poachers! The poacher often used a lurcher (a greyhound/collie cross?) for poaching on open ground.

Poachers in the mid-fifteenth century had organised themselves into gangs. A Thetford gang of the 1440s, attired in 'soldiers tunics, steel helmets, bows and arrows', and sometimes 'cudgels and staffs' attacked and wounded three members of a rival gang at Elveden, Suffolk, and then 'unjustly imprisoned' them in the town of Thetford.

The exploitation of the rabbit in farming gives some idea of the willingness of the farmer to adapt to changing conditions. The decline in arable farming is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the rearing of rabbits, both for meat and for the skins. However, the position of the rabbit formed an important component of medieval life and its agriculture.