Monument record MBC48520 - Medieval and post medieval ridge and furrow field systems, Pitchcott parish

Contiguous extensive medieval and/or post medieval ridge and furrow, plough headlands, furlong boundaries and banks, remnants 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 the south half of Pitchcott parish, the ridge and furrow blocks are almost contiguous. 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 three quarters of the field system earthworks remain visible (1-10).

Medieval and/or post medieval ridge and furrow cultivation, remnants 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 the northern half of Pitchcott parish, the blocks of the ridge and furrow cultivation are contiguous across the parish. On aerial photographs taken in 2021 and recent remote sensing data, about eighty-five percent of the earthwork cultivation blocks remain visible, the remainder having been plough levelled by post-war agricultural regimes (11-18).