Three classes of rural society had emerged by 1600; landowner, yeoman farmer, and landless labourer.

Isaac Newton was the son of a yeoman farmer. He was born in Lincolnshire, near Grantham, on December 25, 1642. Like his uncle he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Richard of Wyche was born in 1197 at Droitwyche, the son of a prosperous yeoman farmer. He and his brother were orphaned at an early age, and an incompetent guardian wasted the inheritance. Richard worked long and hard to restore the family property, and when he had succeeded, he turned it over to his brother and went off to Oxford to become a scholar. In 1244 he was elected Bishop of Chichester.

Between 1650 and 1850, the continuation and completion of enclosure transformed the physical appearance of Lincolnshire. Plains of open fields gave way to large, hedged fields. Myriad winding tracks were replaced by long, green lanes. Village greens were enclosed and beauty and common rights bowed before agricultural efficiency.