Monument record 9935 - Open Field System, Silverstone

{1} The common fields of the parish were enclosed by an Act of Parliament of 1827. At that time there were five open fields of very different sizes. Between the main part of the village and West End lay the small Backside Field, and to the east lay the equally small Ridge Knoll Field. Hall Hills and Blackspit Fields were to the N.E. of the village, with Swinney Field beyond. Old enclosures surrounded the various parts of the village to the S., W. and E. The S. part of the present parish was not in Silverstone its parish in 1827 but in Whittlewood Forest and is not depicted on the Enclosure Map. An earlier map of Whittlewood Forest of about 1600 shows a similar situation. Backside Field was then known as Wood Crafts Field and all the others were grouped into two large areas known as Silson Field and Whittlebury Field. All the old enclosures S. and W. of the village are shown as on the later map but their names, for example Grindons Sart, Dancome Sart, Elms Sart and Fryers Assart, all indicate their origins as woodland clearances. These are probably some of the assarts mentioned as being in Silverstone in 1273 (Cal. 1PM ed II, 49). The 1600 map also shows that all the S. part of the parish as far as the county boundary was then under woodland. Ridge-and-furrow of these fields exists on the ground or can be traced on air photographs in some parts of the parish. A few fragments can be seen in the former Backside or Wood Crafts Field and other small areas, now built over, are visible on air photographs in the former Ridge Knoll Field. To the N.W. of the village very little ridge and furrow is traceable in the area of the other three former open fields and the pattern is not recoverable anywhere. Ridge-and-furrow occurs in the old enclosure W. of the village (SP 659440 and 663433), much of it in exceptionally narrow ridges only 4 m-5m. across. For the most part the furlongs lie within existing fields or are bounded by shallow ditches or slight banks indicating former hedges. Further S., both in the area of old enclosures S. of the village and within the former wooded areas, wide ridge- and-furrow, exactly straight and fitted within fields of regular shape, appears to be the result of late 19th century ploughing (e.g. SP 661429 and 673433).

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.134-5 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> Hall D., 2001, The Woodland Landscapes of Southern Northamptonshire, p.33-46 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102520.

<3> Hollowell S., 1999, Northamptonshire Inclosure: The Commissioners and Other Officials, p.42 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102530.

Record last edited

Aug 9 2024 10:49AM