Monument record 9850 - Open Field System, Long Buckby

{1} The common fields of Long Buckby were enclosed by an Act of Parliament of 1766. Immediately before that date there were five named fields, North and Highway in the north, Hoborow and Hammers in the south, and Surney Field in the south west projection of the parish. Ridge and furrow of these fields cannot be traced in the area east of the village (SP 644675), in the south of the parish or in much of Surney Field, but elsewhere a fairly complete pattern can be reconstructed either on the ground or from air photographs. Much of it is arranged in end-on furlongs but there are many interlocking blocks as well. Ridge and furrow is also traceable in two areas known as common in 1766, North Heath Common in the north east (SP 645697) and Thorney Heath Common in the east (SP 649675), indicating that these areas must once have been arable land. Part of the common fields of Murcott was apparently enclosed at the same time as most of Watford, by an Act of Parliament of 1771 (NRO, Map of New Enclosures in Watford and Murcott). This enclosure seems to have included land in the north west of Murcott, but a larger area than that now included in Watford parish. The area to the south, around Greenhill Farm, appears to have been enclosed before that date. In the north of the land of Murcott, in the area now in Watford, some of the ridge-and-furrow has been destroyed, but in that part now in Long Buckby almost every furlong is visible either on the ground or on air photographs. It is arranged throughout in end-on and interlocked furlongs.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.135 (checked) (Series). SNN77381.

Record last edited

Jan 10 2025 3:03PM