 They practised mixed agriculture, with enclosures for arable use, but also with enclosed and unenclosed pasture fields.During the second half of the Roman occupation, there seems to have been a move from agricultural land to pasture and 'waste' with building of walls and barriers – perhaps due either to a fall-off in demand for grain locally, consequent on the decline of the Roman military establishment, or to a drop in productivity.It is difficult to assess the long-term effects of the Roman occupation on the native inhabitants of Cumbria.