Sunday archery and England's reserve of bowmen

Would agricultural labourers have been too poor or low-ranking to possess and use bows?

Routine archery practice was compulsory, and ordinary peasants could be called up with their bows.

Archery practice after church was an obligation rather than a matter of personal enthusiasm. Repeated training gave English forces a much larger pool of people able to bring a bow when summoned. Elite retinue archers still supplied the highest skill, but a mass formation did not require every bowman to meet that standard. In northern fighting, many archers could be peasants called up against Scottish incursions, making routine civilian practice part of England's military capacity.