Monument record 8311/0/3 - Open Fields Project: Areas of Survival of Ridge & Furrow

Earthwork (Aerial Photography)

{3} Although Paulerspury had three fields until enclosure in 1819 the draft inclosure map of the same year shows areas of ancient inclosure adjacent to the village, including the field to the north west of Grays Close. This inclosure is thought to date from the 15th century when a decrease in population released pressure on ploughland.
Ridge and furrow overlaid 3 boundary ditches which were finally backfilled in the 13th century.

{4} Following an apparent abandonment of the fields to the rear of the closes in the mid-13th century, large parallel features on a north-west to south-east alignment were cut. These features have been interpreted as agricultural, and predate the later ridge and furrow earthworks. The large quantity of pottery sherds from the mid-13th to late-14th century recovered from these features, 189 sherds in total, may indicate substantial manuring during this period. Another interpretation may be that these broad linear depressions instead represent drainage features; the topography of the site could create an area of localised flooding in the event of heavy rain as the area is generally level before falling away the north-east.

The site again appears to have been abandoned in the late 14th century, possibly due to depopulation following the years of the ‘Black Death’ and a contraction of settlement. This depopulation released pressure on ploughland, with previously ploughed areas returning to disuse and pasture. It was noted that the lands of Laurence Paveli at Paulerspury lay ‘for the most part uncultivated by means of the pestilence’ (Hall 1995). At some point, ridge and furrow earthworks were extended across the site, and the relatively small amount of 14th-century pottery recovered from the site may have been scattered during this later agricultural activity. The site was enclosed in the 15th century, as demonstrated by Partida, Hall and Foard (2013) and on the draft Inclosure Map of 1819.

<1> Hall D.; Palmer R., 2001, Midland Open Fields Project: Digital Archive, (part checked) (Archive). SNN105253.

<2> Hall D.N., 2001, Turning The Plough - Midland Open Fields: Landscape Character and Proposals for Management, (unchecked) (Book). SNN101551.

<3> Walker, C., 2010, Archaeological Evaluation on Land Off Gray's Close, Paulerspury, Northamptonshire 2010, p.3,7 (checked) (Report). SNN107118.

<4> Kidd, B., 2016, Archaeological mitigation on land at Gray’s Close, Paulerspury, Northamptonshire, March 2015, checked (Report). SNN110299.

<5> Crank, N. (Editor), 2017, South Midlands Archaeology (47), p. 43 (Journal). SNN111362.

Record last edited

Feb 6 2019 1:46PM