Landscape record 0634700000 - Open fields, Hulcott

Summary

Ridge and furrow from medieval to post-medieval open field system in Hulcott parish

Protected Status/Designation

  • Archaeological Notification Area: Ridge and furrow of medieval to post-medieval open field system in Hulcott parish (DBC8676)
  • Archaeological Notification Area: Ridge and furrow of medieval to post-medieval open field system in Hulcott parish (DBC8674)
  • Archaeological Notification Area: Ridge and furrow of medieval to post-medieval open field system in Hulcott parish (DBC8675)
  • Archaeological Notification Area: Ridge and furrow of medieval to post-medieval open field system in Hulcott parish (DBC8677)
  • Archaeological Notification Area: Ridge and furrow of medieval to post-medieval open field system in Hulcott parish (DBC8678)
  • Archaeological Notification Area: Ridge and furrow of medieval to post-medieval open field system in Hulcott parish (DBC8679)
  • SHINE: Hulcott parish medieval ridge and furrow earthworks (DBC7837)
  • SHINE: Hulcott parish medieval ridge and furrow earthworks (DBC8347)

Map

Type and Period (6)

  • OPEN FIELD (Enclosed 1779, 11th Century to 18th Century - 1000 AD to 1799 AD)
  • RIDGE AND FURROW (Medieval to Post-Medieval - 1066 AD to 1798 AD)
  • FURLONG BOUNDARY (Medieval to Post-Medieval - 1066 AD to 1798 AD?)
  • BOUNDARY DITCH (Medieval to Post-Medieval - 1066 AD to 1798 AD?)
  • PLOUGH HEADLAND (Medieval to Post-Medieval - 1066 AD to 1798 AD?)
  • DITCH (Post-Medieval - 1540 AD to 1798 AD)

Description

Block(s) of surviving ridge and furrow of Hulcott parish, enclosed 1779. Total acreage (1995): 19% survival - 140 acres. Assessment made for Monuments Protection Programme (MPP) (B1)

An extensive swathe of medieval and/or post medieval ridge and furrow cultivation blocks, part of the former common open field system, is visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as earthworks and was mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located across Hulcott parish and centred at SP 85584 16341, abutting Hulcott village on all sides. Contained within this system are plough headlands and boundary ditches, as well as linear and sinuous sections of earthwork bank, likely being furlong boundaries. These earthwork furlong banks are part of a much more extensive system of land division boundaries that extends eastwards into Bedfordshire and East Cambridgeshire. Whilst many of these features originate in the medieval period with the establishment of the common field cultivation system, some of the boundary banks may have earlier origins. They remain visible chiefly as broad and low earthworks on recent lidar remote sensing data, probably having been spread by post-war ploughing regimes. Whilst some of these linear banks respect the boundaries of the ridge and cultivation blocks, others pass through and apparently under the ridge and furrow, likely indicating former medieval cultivation boundaries that were subsequently readjusted. On aerial photographs taken in 2023 and recent remote sensing data, about 80 percent of the earthworks visible as extant on aerial photographs taken in the 1940s remain extant, with the remainder having been plough levelled (2-14).

Sources (14)

  • <1>SBC19212 Unpublished document: David Hall. 1994-99. Draft MPP Documentation for Midlands Open Fields Project.
  • <2>SBC27085 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2025. RAF-AC275 V 5039 07-MAR-1943.
  • <3>SBC27175 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2025. RAF-106G-UK-683 RS 4037 23-AUG-1945.
  • <4>SBC27219 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2025. RAF-106G-UK-683 RS 4040 23-AUG-1945.
  • <5>SBC27220 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2025. RAF-106G-UK-683 RS 4042 23-AUG-1945.
  • <6>SBC27211 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2025. RAF-540-1269 F21 0043 12-MAR-1954.
  • <7>SBC27154 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2025. RAF-541-272 RS 4252 21-JUN-1949.
  • <8>SBC27090 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2025. RAF-541-272 RS 4254 21-JUN-1949.
  • <9>SBC25062 Digital archive: Environment Agency. Environment Agency LiDAR data. LIDAR SP81NE Environment Agency National LIDAR Programme DTM 1 Metre dated 2021 SP8515-SP8517.
  • <10>SBC25062 Digital archive: Environment Agency. Environment Agency LiDAR data. LIDAR SP81NE Environment Agency National LIDAR Programme DTM 1 Metre dated 2021 SP8615-SP8616.
  • <11>SBC25062 Digital archive: Environment Agency. Environment Agency LiDAR data. LIDAR SP81NW Environment Agency National LIDAR Programme DTM 1 Metre dated 2021 SP8415-SP8417.
  • <12>SBC25596 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery. 13-APR-2010 SP8416.
  • <13>SBC25596 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery. 05-APR-2020 SP8416.
  • <14>SBC25596 Aerial Photograph: Historic England. 2022. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery. 04-JUN-2023 SP8616.

Location

Grid reference SP 850 167 (point)
Civil Parish HULCOTT, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Events/Activities (1)

  • Event - Survey: Aerial investigation and mapping project (Ref: 9179) (EBC18604)

Record last edited

May 23 2025 12:05PM

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