Monument record 9859/0/5 - Open Fields Project: Areas of Survival of Ridge & Furrow

Earthworks of medieval/post-medieval ridge and furrow cultivation identified on aerial photographs during the Open Fields Project.

{3} Area 1 contained a set of parallel and close-spaced linear anomalies aligned north to south. These coincide with the extant ridge and furrow earthworks. A second, less distinct, set of such anomalies runs from east to west. These are interpreted as indicating an earlier phase of ridge and furrow cultivation. Area 2 is also dominated by the north-south lineations caused by the ridge and furrow earthworks.

{4} There is very little 19th-century ridging in Northamptonshire: an example is at Naseby (enclosed in 1820).

{5} Victorian steam-plough ridge and furrow does exist; good examples can be seen at… Naseby. Photo.

{6} In Hall's parish survey of Naseby, the field of interest appears to be depicted as having one of the parish's great field boundaries running across it. This possibly explains the difference in width of the strips in the geophysics.

{8} Medieval ridge and furrow cultivation was observed as earthworks. The excavated trenches were cut through the ridge and furrow.

<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> Walford J., 2009, An Archaeological Geophysical Survey of The Site of The Proposed Naseby Battlefield Visitor Centre, Northamptonshire, p.3 (unchecked) (Report). SNN106643.

<4> HALL D.N., 1993, The Open Fields of Northamptonshire : The Case for the Preservation of Ridge and Furrow, p.17 (unchecked) (Report). SNN70145.

<5> HALL D.N., 1982, Medieval Fields, p.11. (unchecked) (Series). SNN56218.

<6> Cadman, G., 2009, Naseby Battlefield Project, (checked) (Note). SNN107339.

<7> Hall, D.; Harding, R. & Martin, P., 1980, Naseby Parish Survey 1976, p.51 (unchecked) (Article). SNN73848.

<8> Foard-Colby A., 2010, Archaeological Trial Trench Evaluation at Naseby Battlefield Visitor Centre, Northamptonshire, p.3; https://doi.org/10.5284/1104192 (Report). SNN107906.

Record last edited

Dec 12 2024 1:56PM