Monument record 6048/0/1 - Earthwork Ridge & Furrow

{1} List A: Extensive Areas of Field Systems.
A large area of ridge and furrow with headlands and joints, and a belt of complimentary meadow bordering the River Tove. It is one of the largest area of unspoilt medieval fields surviving in the county. The ridges are characterised as being ‘old’ because of their low profile and the absence of modifications made in the C17th and later. The site of the medieval vill of Easton Neston is preserved lying either side of a hollow way running south from the church, and extending to about 8ha (there may have been more underlying the present house and gardens). The remains are faint, but some property boundaries are clear. The earthworks have probably been partly infilled during emparkment, leaving archaeological levels intact. Easton Neston Park, created in 1499, is an early example of a park centred on a village that subsequently developed into a great country house. From the emparked period there are various traces of former gardens and the levelled and embanked areas connected with the creation of avenues and other paths, and with the removal of the Northampton road.
The estate records are full and comprehensive, and include many medieval records originating from Showsley Priory, lying within the parish. Is likely that there were separate townships for Hulcote and Easton. The later records from the emparkment and the subsequent management of the gardens and farms are likely to be full. Along with the meadows and emparkment features the whole palimpsest is of national significance. 100ha, including meadow land; about 65% of the township.

<1> HALL D.N., 1993, The Open Fields of Northamptonshire : The Case for the Preservation of Ridge and Furrow, (part checked) (Report). SNN70145.

<2> HALL D.N., 1993, The Open Fields of Northamptonshire: Areas Proposed for Preservation, (unchecked) (Supplement). SNN56952.

Record last edited

May 3 2018 10:11AM