Monument record 8291/0/9 - 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} Much of the ridge and furrow is strikingly well-preserved, particularly round the village where it exhibits some unusual features. For example, south of the village at SP602683 some furlongs terminate in very large rectangular mounds lying either side of a hollow way which runs obliquely through the ridges. In that position these might be explained as unusually large terminations of the ridges but, if they are, then a further double row of mounds, close to the first, could not have been formed at the same time, as the intervening ridges would have been too short. No conclusive explanation of these features can be reached.

{4} Across much of the site there are widely spaced parallel, often curving linear anomalies that appear to reveal a pattern of former ridge and furrow cultivation.

<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> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.193 Site 6 + Plate 21 (checked) (Series). SNN77381.

<4> Austrums, R., 2011, Geophysical Survey Report: Watford Gap Wind Farm, Northamptonshire, p.6 (checked) (Report). SNN109710.

Record last edited

Jun 10 2024 3:54PM