Manorial Farms (also called Estate Districts, or "Gutsbezirk" in German) in Prussia were very large farms owned by a noble family with a large number of Polish serfs to work the estate, including the farmlands. Most of these farms consisted of a manor house (gut), many large barns, and residences for the workers. In many cases (like Gross Waplitz) the workers' residences were in an adjacent area owned by the manor. Here there were small scale farms which the small farmer residents had the right to pass on to their descendants. In other cases, the workers lived in the manor house or in nearby structures. Here is a rendering of the Manor House (Gut) in Gross Waplitz from 1865.

     The small farmer had a house, outbuildings, land for a small garden, and land for cash crops such as rye, barley, oats, or potatoes. The small farmer also had access to the commons. The small farmer would pay his rent in grain and in unpaid work on the manorial farm (often 3 days a week).

     To be successful, the farmer needed a capable wife to share the tasks. The eldest male of resulting children typically inherited the property rights upon his marriage, and the other children would receive some financial buyout at that time. The marriages were not based on good looks and romantic love, but would be best thought of as a business partnership. The financial package included gaining inheritance rights, a woman's dowry, gifts from both families, rights for the man's parents to retire and live in an outbuilding on the land, and payments to disenfranchised siblings. This event occurred after confirmation at age 13 or 14, but often before 20 if there was inheritable farm. There were variations on this inheritance arrangement when there were no male children or the children were quite young. Divorce was virtually unknown.

     A manorial farm typically had upwards of 20 farm servants doing tasks liking cooking, herding, working in the dairy, and being a crew foreman. The farm servants were usually hired on an annual contract after their confirmation. The lord of the manor could require compulsory service from the children of the small farmers for up to three years. This type of work provided a good bridge between childhood and marriage, particularly for non-inheriting children. These workers received food, clothing, housing, and a small amount of money.

     There were also day laborers on the manorial estate. These were usually people without inheritance rights and who would be otherwise impoverished. They often roomed and boarded with a small farmer providing a supplemental income source to the small farmer. They would receive some pay for work, but also had unpaid commitments to the estate; they were particularly valuable at harvest time. If these people had no source of income, the local church had to provide support for them.

     The village layout was often set up to facilitate access to the manorial estate. The village would center on a common area which all can use. At the head of the village is the manor house and barns. Each house has a small garden behind it and then outside the village are plots of land for farming. Given that the Prussian plow used during this period was very heavy and hard to turn around, the land outside the village was subdivided into long strips several furrows wide, each associated with a small farmer. Additional common lands were also outside the central village.

     From all the above, it is clear than the non-inheriting children of the small farmers, as well as the day laborers, often had to move elsewhere in search of land to farm.

     There were a number of special functionaries associated with the estate. There were millers who ground the grains into flour and other products. Millers often purchased this right from the lord of the manor, plus they paid an annual fee in grain. Tavern keepers (krugers) purchased or leased the right to brew and to run an inn; additionally the kruger might pay fees in beer or money. Both millers and krugers often had land for growing food for their own consumption.

     The lord of the manor had the right to be judge for minor infractions committed by people on his estate. This was often done indirectly by appointing a judge. The parameters of justice were fairly well defined and limited by the Prussian government, as earlier there had been abuses of the system. Often the villages had village heads (schultz). Schultz were powerful in villages of free farmers or where the schultz privilege was inheritable. However, in manorial villages, the schultz were unpaid and disenfranchised; they were caught between the interests of the lord of the manor and those in the manorial village.