Monument record 5242 - Open Field System, Hartwell

Most of the parish was once ploughed, but various enclosures had reduced the area by 1727. Some furlong names include the name 'stocking' suggesting they were originally assarts from Salcey Forest. Hartwell was enclosed by an Act of 1825.

{1} The common fields of the parish were enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1828. The medieval arrangement of the common fields must have been markedly altered when a formerly cultivated area was enclosed in the 16th century to become a deer park. By 1768 there were four open fields, Town, West, Brook and Wallace Fields, between Hartwell Green and the Buckinghamshire boundary. To the west of the fields lay the 16th century deer park with a small area of old enclosures beyond, against the Ashton boundary, and to the east lay further large areas of old enclosures which extended as far as the edge of Salcey Forest. Within the common fields there were two small areas of old enclosures, one around Chapel Farm and the other around Stonepit Farm to the east.
Very little ridge and furrow survives on the ground within the parish although much more can be traced from aerial photos. None is visible in the former Town Field and only small fragments are recoverable in West, Brook and Wallace Fields. However, extensive areas of interlocked and end-on furlongs can be traced within both the 16th century and the assumed medieval deer parks, as well as within the old enclosures along the edge of Salcey Forest, south east of Hartwell Green and around Stonepit Farm and Chapel Farm.

{3} List and map of furlong names in 1727

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.80 site 9 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> 1768, Map of Hartwell (NRO Map G440), (unchecked) (Map). SNN26408.

<3> HALL D.N., 1975, Hartwell, Northamptonshire: A Parish Survey, 5/7-9 (checked) (Article). SNN28079.

<4> 1975, Medieval Archaeology (19), 19/256 (checked) (Journal). SNN39467.

<5> Hall D., 2001, The Woodland Landscapes of Southern Northamptonshire, p.33-46 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102520.

<6> Hollowell S., 1999, Northamptonshire Inclosure: The Commissioners and Other Officials, p.42 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102530.

<7> HALL D.N., 1995, The Open Fields of Northamptonshire, p. 290-1 (Series). SNN56219.

Record last edited

Feb 13 2026 11:58AM