Monument record MBC47890 - Ridge and furrow field systems in the parish of Buckland

Ridge and furrow field systems with field boundaries and plough headlands in the parish of Buckland of medieval and post medieval date are visible on historic aerial photographs and remote sensing data as extant earthworks, levelled earthworks and cropmarks and were mapped as part of the Aylesbury Vale Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (EBC18604). Located in the parish of Buckland and centred at SP 88265 13516. Buckland is a long and narrow parish across the Chilterns’ escarpment with only the northern two thirds inside the project area. The change in topography also results from a change in the underlying geology and soils. All the recorded ridge and furrow field systems are on the lower lying land, with more impeded drainage and heavier soils, on the lower land to the north. Remains of the field systems survive close to the shrunken settlement at Buckland, where some earthworks remain, as well as in small fields along the line of the Grand Union Canal and small pasture fields nearby. On the chalk escarpment the remains of four lynchets are visible running across the hill; modern arable land use and the construction of the bypass around Aston Clinton and Buckland has removed some of the earthworks. The parish was inclosed by Act of Parliament in 1844. Survival has been affected by modern land use in the form of arable farming and a large dairy factory which have removed or destroyed any evidence of these field systems. The bypass around Aston Clinton and Buckland has also removed remaining earthworks. (1-16)