Monument record 9387 - Open Field System, Chelveston-Cum-Caldecote

Contiguous medieval and/or post medieval ridge and furrow blocks, remnants of the former common open-field system, are visible as earthworks and cropmarks on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data. Located across parish of Chelveston cum Caldecott. Recent aerial photographs and lidar imagery show that many of the blocks have been ploughed-levelled in the latter half of the 20th century through continued agricultural cultivation, though some blocks remain as extant earthworks within pasture fields and paddocks.

{3-6} Contiguous medieval and/or post medieval ridge and furrow blocks, remnants of the former common open-field system, are visible as earthworks and cropmarks on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data and were mapped as part of the Bedford Borough NMP project. The ridge and furrow is visible across the parish of Chelveston cum Caldecott but is concentrated to the east and southeast. Recent aerial photographs and lidar imagery show that many of the blocks have been ploughed-levelled in the latter half of the 20th century through continued agricultural cultivation, though some blocks remain as extant earthworks within pasture fields and paddocks. Boundary banks, furlong boundaries and plough headlands were also mapped and recorded.

<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 Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, RAF/CPE/UK/1925 RS 4260-4261 16-JAN-2019 (Photographs). SNN104890.

<4> Royal Air Force, Vertical Aerial Photography, RAF/541/483 RP 3320 07-APR-1950 (Photographs). SNN104890.

<5> Bedford Borough Council HER, 1996, Georeferenced composite layer of vertical aerial photographs taken in 1996. Held by Bedford Borough Council HER (Archive). SNN111739.

<6> Environment Agency, LIDAR Composite DTM - 1m, LIDAR SP9869/SP9969 Environment Agency 1M DTM 01 Oct 2014 - 31 May 2017 (Digital Plots). SNN111710.

<7> Bedford Borough Council HER, Undated, Bedford Borough NMP, MD003015 (Archive). SNN113023.

Record last edited

Feb 5 2025 7:19PM