THE question whether late medieval and early modern towns were declining or prospering has long been debated, and no general pattern of growth or decay has been found. The number of shrinking towns is roughly balanced by those that were expanding. It is, however, generally agreed that most towns had fewer inhabitants in the 1520s than in the 1340s before the outbreak of plague, and that a higher proportion of national taxed wealth was probably located in towns in the sixteenth century than in the fourteenth. In the south-east, in particular, towns such as Lewes, Sandwich, Rye, Kingston, and Maidstone may have increased their share of the region's taxed wealth by three or more times. Much less is known about the economic fortunes of small towns, although looking at a broad national sample Christopher Dyer found that the majority either grew or maintained their numbers. How they compared in other ways, one with another, is not known.

Distribution of Wealth

From an economic standpoint, what primarily distinguished the town from the countryside was the wide variety of non-agricultural occupations that was possible within it. Small towns might not house a goldsmith, an overseas merchant, or a scrivener, but would contain people involved in some aspect of the clothing, textile, and leather trades, as well as building workers and victuallers. Such artisans usually ran a family business, with the work being carried out by themselves and their wives, with the help of servants and perhaps one or two apprentices.