Between 1787 and 1798, the agricultural writer and land agent William Marshall (1745-1818) published a number of works on the rural economies of England. In this two-volume work, first published in 1796, he describes the farming, geography, public works and produce of districts in Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Cornwall.

Between 1787 and 1798, the agricultural writer and land agent William Marshall (1745-1818) published a number of works on the rural economies of England, covering Norfolk, his native Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, the Midlands and the South. This two-volume study appeared in 1796 and investigated the farming, geography, public works and produce of districts in Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Cornwall. Volume 1 looks in detail at West Devon, the eastern parts of Cornwall, and the South Hams. The coverage includes aspects of the laws surrounding land ownership, farming implements peculiar to the areas, woodland management, orchards and the production of fruit-based liquors. The result is a richly detailed survey of the area in the Georgian period and an important record of rural and agricultural life, so often overlooked by other contemporary chroniclers.