Monument record 8238 - Open Field System, Kelmarsh

The date of enclosure of the common fields of the parish, although it had taken place before the early 18th-century.

{1} The fields had been enclosed by the start of the C18th. Ridge and furrow of these fields can be traced on the ground or from air photographs over almost the whole of the parish, apart from a wide band of fields immediately north and west of the village where it has been destroyed by modern agriculture. In the west and south of the parish the furlongs were arranged both end-on and at right-angles to each other over the broken ground but in the north there are long sweeps of end-on furlongs running north-west to south-east across the spurs and, in the north-east, running north towards the stream. It is particularly well preserved in the area east and north-west of the village.

{2} Towards the end of the medieval period a common feature all over England was the piecemeal enclosure of individual groups of strips in the open fields by go-ahead peasants or lords. This is visible in the landscape in the north west of Kelmarsh, west and south west of Kelmarsh Field Farm. There, a group of modern fields of long strip form have slight reversed-S curved boundaries and sharply stepped angular sides. All of these features are characteristic of medieval piecemeal enclosure. The ridge and furrow headlands in these fields indicates that it was created after enclosure, but following the older open-field pattern.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.113 (unchecked) (Series). SNN77381.

<2> Taylor C.C., 2000, Kelmarsh Estate Report, p.9 (unchecked) (Report). SNN101314.

Record last edited

May 21 2024 12:51PM