England witnessed an overall rising standard of living in the seventeenth century. Still very much an agrarian society, approximately 80% of the population lived in rural settlements, and even citydwellers were in walking distance of farmland. However, as the the century came to an end a growing proportion of the population was living in urban areas. London in particular grew from some 200,000 people in 1600 to 575,000 by 1700 and went from being...