Ridge And Furrow

The term ridge and furrow is often used by Archaeologist s and others to describe the pattern of peaks and troughs created in a field and caused by the system of Plough ing used during the Middle Ages in Britain. Early examples date to the immediate post-Roman period and the method survived until the seventeenth century in some areas. This ploughing style is also found in Ireland.

The phenomenon was created as a result of the Strip Cultivation that was widely practised at the time whereby large fields were divided into long, narrow plots called Furlong s. A furlong is 1/8th of a mile and is defined in British law as 201.168 metres. It is still found in horse racing today. It originally derived from the Old English words for a 'furrow length' and was then taken to mean a length of ploughing across an Acre (4047 m²) of land and so its exact value would vary dependant on local constraints.

HISTORY

Each strip would be cultivated separately by different families who would turn the ploughed soil into the centre of their strip by the continued use of a non-reversing plough, creating over many years raised ridges bounded by deep Furrow s. The turning of the plough at each end of the strip created the shape in plan of an elongated S-shape. Modern ploughing regimes are more efficient and deeper cutting, removing these features but in cases where cultivation ended or livestock farming was adopted, this rippled effect is still visible today in the landscape. As a result it is useful evidence of past land-use and can occasionally indicate the sites of Deserted Medieval Village s.

LOCATIONS

Some of the best preserved ridge and furrow survives in the southern Midlands of England in the counties of:

Northamptonshire ,

Oxfordshire and

Warwickshire .

The ridge and furrow can have a height difference of 18 to 24 inches (0.5 to 0.6 m) in places and give a strongly rippled effect to the fieldscape.

RELATED FORMS

Rig And Furrow ,

Lazy Bed s,

Cord Rig and

Run Rig cultivation.

Lynchet s create a similar effect but are created by gravity on hillslopes subject to ploughing.

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Ridge And Furrow