Land Agent in Britain : Past, Present and Future

Despite the fact that their archives survive in volume and depth across the country, relatively little is known about the fascinating and complex role of the land agent across time. For the very first time, this volume brings together historians, practitioners and representatives of the bodies overseeing the continuing professional development of agents to explore, in overview and through detailed case studies, the wide variety of skills required by those entering this profession. At the core of the contributions here is the sense of continuity which exists between the Anglo-Saxon Reeve and the highly qualified modern land agent. Skills such as a working knowledge of farming, entrepreneurialism, the ability to 'get on' with a wide variety of stakeholders as well as estate owners, conservation, environmental management and adaptability to fast changing economic climates or technological possibilities remain as important today as they have been in the past. Fusing together historical and modern perspectives, the contributors both trace the development and refinement of these skills and begin to look to the future of estates and their agents in a post-Brexit world characterised by uncertain subsidies, persistently low food prices, radical changes in the intensity of weather patterns and the need once more to build strong economic and socio-cultural bridges between town and country.