After an agricultural boom in the Napoleonic wars , farmers were hit by falling prices ; many labourers were laid off . Opposition to newer technology appeared in Clare and surrounding districts in 1816 and four local men were gaoled after being convicted of burning a threshing machine . This was the Year Without a Summer caused by volcanic dust in the atmosphere : the local press reported floods , ' long continued wet weather ' , unripened wheat and widespread civil unrest . Harvests were again terrible in 1828 and 1829 , followed by the Swing Riots . The Long Depression ( 1870 – 1895 ) caused many families to move away from the town
Year Without a Summer
Year Without a Summer
Clare, Suffolk