Reflections: The history of salt production in the New Forest

Fortunately, in our area there is a plentiful salt supply in the sea. The late, great local historian Arthur Lloyd stated that “there can be little doubt that salt was being evaporated from the sea along the south coast of Hampshire from at least Iron Age times”. The Victoria County History of Hampshire (VCH) records that the production of salt by evaporation from sea water was one of the oldest industries in Hampshire.

The first written reference to salt production in our area is in the Domesday Book of 1086. Here, it is recorded that Hordle had six salt pans, Dibden had one, Totton’s belonged to Romsey Abbey, Eling’s was the property of the king, and there were three salt pans on the Isle of Wight.

The salt pans of Lymington are mentioned in a document dated 1147, in which Richard de Redvers confirms that a tithe of Lymington salt to the Abbey at Quarr on the Isle of Wight. This had been granted earlier by his father, Earl Baldwin. The VCH states that from the Middle Ages through to the early modern period, Lymington was the centre of salt-making in Hampshire. In 1625, a document relating to the alteration of the method of salt production in the Lymington area records that there were five salt pans at Milford and Keyhaven, 13 at Pennington, eight at Woodside, three at Oxeye and three “in the Rows”. The demand for salt was enormous. Not only was it used in food, but it was also used to salt-dry and preserve meat and fish. This was especially important for mariners on long voyages and for the army on campaigns overseas.

Fortunately, there is a record of how salt was made in Lymington in the late 1600s. An incredible lady called Celia Fiennes (1662 to 1741) travelled around England on horseback, partly for an adventure and partly to record what she saw. This was at a time when roads were little more than tracks and were often unmarked. Highwaymen, the weather and flea-infested lodgings were some of the risks travellers would encounter in that period.

She came to the Lymington area, and in her book Through England on a Side Saddle she records the salt-making process. She starts by describing the evaporation of saltwater in shallow ponds about 50 square yards in size, which were created in the low-lying marshland area, separated from the sea by a strong earth embankment.

“Ye seawater they draw into trenches and so into several ponds ye are secured in ye bottom to retain it, and it stands in ye sun to exhale ye watery fresh part of it, and if it prove a drye summer they make the best and most salt for ye rains spoil ye ponds by weakening ye salt,” she writes.

Celia then describes the next stage, which involved pumping the water using windmills into a boiling house. She describes the inside of the boiling house as being: “full of large, square iron and copper panns; they are shallow but they are a yard or two if not more square, these are fixed in rowes one by another, it may be 20 on a side in a house, under which there is a ffurnace ye burns fiercely to keep these pans boyling apace, and it candy’s about ye edges or bottom so they shovell it up and fill it in great baskets and so the thinner part runns through on moulds they set to catch it which they call salt cakes.”

She adds that the process was non-stop during the boiling season, which was about 16 weeks in the summer, provided it was a dry season. Each boiling took eight hours and needed to be tended throughout. The furnace that Celia mentioned was fired using coal brought into Lymington harbour by small coastal ships from the north of England. The coal was an overhead cost for the salt producer which was also taxed. The ashes and refuse from the fires was used to maintain the roads around the area of the salterns.

There was duty to be paid on the salt from 1694 onwards. Records still survive showing how much duty was paid. These give an insight into the size and prosperity of the salt industry in the Lymington area. In 1715, £25,110 was raised in taxes on salt. Thirty years later the revenue raised was £48,994. The National Archives currency converter shows that this would be worth £5,140,857 in 2017. By the middle of the 18th century there were 149 salt pans operating in the Lymington, Milford and Keyhaven area. The tax office of the Exchequer was situated in Lower Woodside Green, not far from the Chequers Inn. The earliest documented date for the inn is 1695 and may well have helped to slake the thirst of tired workmen from the salt pans.

The money to be made on salt was listed by Mr Charles St Barbe for the 1805 season. He wrote that 100 tons of salt made £190. The coal used to make the salt cost £100. Rent and taxes amounted to £18. Wages and other costs in the production came to £25. Wear and tear or depreciation was calculated at £20. The production costs for 100 tons of salt came to £163. The net profit, therefore, was £27. The National Archives calculator shows that this would have been worth, in 2017, approximately, £1,189.97. With that sum in 1800 you could buy two horses, or five cows, or pay the wages of a skilled tradesman for 180 days.

By the early 1800s salt production in the Lymington area went into a sharp decline. This was mainly caused by the cost of the huge amount of coal required to produce the salt. By contrast, rock salt from mines in Cheshire was much cheaper. The repeal of tax on salt in 1825 did nothing to help the local industry. There were just three salt pans left, and Lymington was actually importing salt from Liverpool. With the rapid expansion of the railway network, salt could be transported from the northern mines at low cost. By 1865 the local industry was extinct.

Some evidence remains today of the salt pans. The Salterns Sailing Club occupies part of an old salt pan, and there is a fabulous walk to be had along that area. One boiling house survives, and Saltgrass Lane in Keyhaven runs alongside the former pans.

Pepper is a spice made from the tiny, dried fruit of the Piper nigrum vine. This originally grew only on the coast of south-western India and was accessible to traders, unlike long pepper or Piper longum which was cultivated in north-east India. Research by Professor James Hancock, of Michigan State University, has uncovered records going back 3,000 years indicating that pepper was used in India medicinally as well as for spice in food. Pepper is mentioned in early Chinese history being traded via overland routes into Sichuan Province by the 2nd century BCE. Pepper was used in ancient Egypt and was found in the nostrils of the mummy of Ramesses II who died in 1213 BCE. It is believed this was part of the mummification process.

Pepper really grew in popularity once the Romans discovered it after conquering Egypt in 30 BCE. It was used throughout the Roman empire to flavour food and wine, and became an essential ingredient in their cooking. The high demand for pepper in the Roman empire kept the prices high and made it a luxury item that only the wealthy could afford. There are records showing that over 120 ships a year were making the journey from the Red Sea to the Indian coast where the pepper was purchased. The ships returned to east Africa, where the cargo was brought by barge up the River Nile to Alexandria and then onwards by ship across the Mediterranean to Rome.

The long and expensive journeys by merchants to acquire pepper helped to keep the cost high. So much so that pepper was used as a currency. Bill Bryson in his book At Home records that in 408 BCE when the Goths besieged Rome, they were bought off with a ransom of £3,000 of pepper. He goes on to record that pepper became a status symbol and a means to show off how wealthy a person was. The pepper would be displayed at feasts, as well as being used in the food.

The incredible expense of pepper, which accounted for two-thirds of the spice trade, led to explorers such as Columbus attempting to find a direct route to India and the spice trade by travelling west. This, it was hoped, would reduce the cost. Other explorers, such as Vasco da Gama, sailed from Portugal around the southern tip of Africa in an attempt to reach India.

Although Columbus did not find his way to India, he did discover the Caribbean islands and set in train what Professor Alfred Crosby termed as the Columbian exchange. This was the large-scale transfer of commodities such as precious metals, animals, plants and food stuffs, along with technology, culture and humans either as slaves or as colonists. One unintentional transfer was communicable diseases which did much to reduce the population of the indigenous population in the new world.

Slowly but surely, the price of pepper reduced. It was no longer the preserve of emperors, kings and the gentry. Some evidence of this can be found locally. When the Mary Rose sank in 1554 just outside Portsmouth Harbour, more than 400 men drowned, and among the remains of the ship, brought to the surface in 1982, a quantity of peppercorn was recovered along with a peppermill, suggesting that even crewmen onboard a warship had access to pepper. It may have been issued to the ship by the navy as part of their victuals.

Paul Freedman, in his publication Out of the East, described how the value of pepper fell sharply in the 17th century for a number of reasons. There were other items available offering a range of different tastes, flavours and stimulants, such as tea, coffee, chocolate and tobacco. With colonisation and the creation of new trade routes, the cost fell sharply. It was no longer in high demand by the wealthy, meaning that many more people could afford to buy it. Pepper has entered our language in that, even today, we refer to a peppercorn rent as being something of insignificant value, usually under £10 per annum, paid for the rent of a property or a piece of land.

Next time you sit at a dining table, reflect on the history behind pepper and salt. Happy Christmas to you all.

• Nick Saunders is a local historian and chairman of the Milton Heritage Society. He can be contacted via nick@miltonheritagesociety.co.uk