Monument record 5568 - Open Field System, Brackley

{1} The common fields of Brackley were enclosed by an Act of Parliament of 1829. At that date there were five open fields lying north and west of the town, with extensive old enclosures occupying the area immediately south west of the town and in the north west along the Greatworth parish boundary. Ridge and furrow of these fields exists on the ground or can be traced on air photos and appears to correspond with the strips shown on the Draft Enclosure map. It lies in end-on furlongs ruinning across the contours on the valley sides in the south west and west of the parish, except where small tributary valleys occur. Here the ridge and furrow is arranged at right angles to the minor stream and an interlocked pattern occurs (SP570381 and 576374). This area lay in the former Castle and Middle Castle Fields in 1829. The same pattern of ridge and furrow occurs immediately north of the Old Town, along another valley side, in the former Old Town and Middle Old Town Fields (SP594384, 594378 and 593372). On the higher flatter ground north of the town, in the former High Field, a pattern of rectangular furlongs set at right angles to each other is traceable (SP582388). Ridge and furrow is also visible within the former old enclosures in the north west of the parish.

{7} With the construction of the castle, or the foundation of the New Town, the field system for Brackley was apparently sub-divided as in 1260 reference is made to the ‘north field of the castle’ and to the ‘Heldetunfeld’ or Old Town Field. What is being described is not several Great Fields within a single system, but rather two separate field systems. This pattern survived until parliamentary enclosure in 1830, and is apparently the only case of this happening in Northamptonshire as elsewhere an existing settlement was elevated into urban status rather than a new separate settlement being created.

<1> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1982, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p.23 site 5 (checked) (Series). SNN77382.

<2> CHADWICK P.; STEPHENSON A., 1999, Archaeological Desk Based Assessment: Land North of Brackley, Northamptonshire, (checked) (Report). SNN63160.

<3> Cotswold Archaeology Ltd, 2006, Brackley Sawmills: Environmental Report, (checked) (Report). SNN105704.

<4> CHADWICK P.; STEPHENSON A., 1999, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment: Land at Brackley Bypass, Northamptonshire, (checked) (Report). SNN63161.

<5> 1830, Brackley Enclosure Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN11776.

<6> 1978, Northamptonshire Past and Present (6/1), 6/33-48 (unchecked) (Journal). SNN59542.

<7> Chapman P., 2010, A Desk-Based Assessment of Land at Brackley Grange, Brackley, Northamptonshire, p.4 (checked) (Report). SNN107020.

Record last edited

Jun 25 2021 3:03PM