Monument record 5963 - Open Field System, Stanford-On-Avon (Including Downtown)

The date of enclosure of the common fields of Stanford and Downtown is unknown and there is no indication as to whether each village had a separate field system. It is probable that such fields were enclosed before or during the 16th century. Ridge and furrow can be traced on the ground or from air photographs throughout almost the entire parish.

{1} The date of enclosure of the common fields of Stanford and Downtown is unknown and there is no indication as to whether each village had a separate field system. It is probable that such fields were enclosed before or during the 16th century. Ridge and furrow can be traced on the ground or from air photographs throughout almost the entire parish. Across the broken ground in the east, on the edge of the Hemplow Hills, the furlongs are short and interlocked but on the gentle lower slopes they are all end-on, running NW-SE. Further north and west on the flatter ground near the river, the ridges are much longer but the blocks are again interlocked. Around the site of the deserted village of Downtown much of the known ridge and furrow has recently been destroyed but in the parkland around Stanford itself the ridges are still well preserved.

{2, 3} (SP6179) Permanent access ways, as both ploughed headlands and hollow tracks, are depicted within an area of ridge and furrow for the parish of Stanford.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.177 (unchecked) (Series). SNN77381.

<2> Taylor, C C, 1979, Roads of Britain, p.142, Fig 71 (Note). SNN48374.

<3> RCHME, 1992, RCHME recording form, (unchecked) (Recording Form (Not SMR)). SNN51614.

Record last edited

Oct 21 2026 9:38AM