Working Oxen

Oxen were one of the most important sources of motive power in the British countryside. For thousands of years they cultivated the land and transported people and goods. The working ox has left a lasting mark on the language, landscape and culture but has now almost totally disappeared from the United Kingdom. Historians rarely mention or study them. It is as if a history of the twentieth century were to ignore the impact of the tractor and the lorry. The purpose of this book is to redress that balance.