'Wheare most
Inclosures be' East Anglian Fields: History, Morphology and
Management
by Edward Martin and Max
Satchell
East Anglian Archaeology monograph series no.
124
Suffolk County Council 2008
ISBN 978 0 86055 160 7;
270pp; 116 illustrations
The Historic Field Systems of East
Anglia Project was carried out with support from English Heritage’s
Monuments Protection Programme. The project formulated a way of
analysing the historic landscape in terms of eight basic ‘land
types’ that could be further broken down into eighteen sub-types.
Of especial significance were common fields and their antithesis,
ancient ‘block holdings’ or holdings in severalty (farmsteads
surrounded by their own group of fields). This form of analysis was
applied to twelve detailed case studies of historic land use that
were carried out across the region: three in Norfolk, four in
Suffolk, three in Essex and one each in Hertfordshire and
Cambridgeshire. In each place the landscape was categorised, mapped
and quantified according to the land types. The varying percentages
of all the land types was calculated and common fields were shown
to be most prevalent in the north and west of the region, while
block holdings dominated in the south, with some areas showing no
evidence of ever having had common fields.
By using trend lines derived from
the computer-based Historic Landscape Characterisation mapping
(recently carried out in the region under another English Heritage
sponsored project) in conjunction with a variety of other data
sets, it was possible to suggest a wider context for the case-study
based conclusions. Of particular, and unexpected, importance was a
division running diagonally across the claylands of central
Suffolk, approximately on the line of the River Gipping. To the
south of this there is gently undulating land which had a high
potential for arable farming in pre-modern times, while to the
north there is mainly flat land, with an historic tendency towards
dairy farming. It was also possible to demonstrate a high incidence
of block holdings in the southern area and, conversely, a link with
a form of common fields to the north.
But beyond these topographically
explicable differences, it was also apparent that the ‘Gipping
divide’ was a significant cultural boundary. This can be seen in
vernacular architecture, both in constructional methods and in plan
forms; in the terminology used to describe greens and woods; and in
inheritance customs. The patterns seen in south Suffolk extend into
Essex and those in north Suffolk extend into Norfolk, indicating
that this was a boundary of regional importance that has a greater
cultural significance than the existing county boundaries.
In examining the origins of the
region’s field systems, consideration was given to claims that some
areas had extensive co-axial field systems of pre-Roman date. A
careful examination of the evidence suggests that although co-axial
systems do exist, they are not vast terrain-oblivious entities and
that they have varying dates and purposes. Some co-axial systems
may incorporate prehistoric elements, but others are likely to be
late Saxon or early medieval in date. Importantly, they are not
automatic indicators of early land allotment. The case studies
suggest that ‘locational’ analysis involving soil type, drainage
potential and access to water is a more certain way of identifying
the areas most likely to have been used for early agriculture. In
the northern part of the region these ‘core’ arable areas tended to
develop into common fields, but in the southern zone they tended to
become block demesnes, that is large fields that were the exclusive
property of manorial lords. This divergent development probably had
its genesis in the late Saxon period and has an obvious
significance for the understanding of the origins of common fields
on a wider, national, level.
The late Saxon period witnessed very
significant advances and changes in agriculture that were to have
far-reaching consequences. The factors driving and influencing
these changes are complex but included a climatic amelioration, an
increase in population, the development or re-introduction of the
mouldboard plough and the Viking invasions. The project produced
evidence pointing towards a linkage between areas of Viking
settlement/influence and the appearance of common fields — but not
in a simple sense of an imported idea, as current evidence suggests
that the English common fields are earlier than those of
Scandinavia. However, the adoption of common fields may have arisen
out the social upheaval caused by the Viking interventions or in
the reorganisation following the English re-conquest. If so, this
could suggest an origin for common fields in the late ninth or
early tenth centuries. Conversely, areas that showed minimal Viking
influence seem to have developed block demesnes, possibly as a
continuation of farming practices that could have their roots in
the Roman period or even earlier.
These findings confirm that East
Anglia has an important legacy of ‘ancient’ enclosed fields,
corroborating the sixteenth-century observation by Sir Thomas Smith
that it was one of the areas ‘wheare most inclosures be’. Ancient
cultivation traces within the fields are, however, rare. This is
not because ridge-and-furrow, as found in the Midlands, has been
eroded away, but because over most of East Anglia ‘stetch’
ploughing was the norm and this produced low ridges that seldom
survive as earthworks. The conservation priority therefore is the
preservation and the historically appropriate management of the
boundaries of these fields, for changing the appearance of
boundaries can change the local character as much as changes to the
pattern. The report has therefore pulled together a key collection
of historical descriptions of the nature and management of field
boundaries across the region, as an aid towards the informed
conservation of the East Anglian landscape in the twenty-first
century.
Price: £30.00 (£35.00 including postage and packing - UK only).
Cheques made payable to 'Suffolk County Council'.
Available from:
Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service
Shire Hall
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP33 2AR
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