Monument record MBC48595 - Medieval and/or post medieval ridge and furrow cultivation, Dinton-with-Ford and Upton parish.

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 north half of Dinton-with-Ford and Upton parish, the ridge and furrow blocks are almost contiguous, except for fields flanking both sides of Oxford Road, where they are not visible, but which do contain earthworks of former furlong boundaries. The latter features form part of a much larger system of boundaries that extend across the project area and have been recorded in both Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. On aerial photographs taken in 2023 and recent remote sensing data, about two thirds of the ridge and furrow cultivation earthworks in the parish’s north half that were visible on aerial photographs take in the 1940s remain extant. The remainder have been plough-levelled by post-war agricultural regimes (1-19).

Ridge and furrow field systems 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 within the parish of Dinton-with-Ford and Upton and centred at SP 78028 08859. This entry covers the southern part of the parish of Dinton-with-Ford and Upton that lies inside the project area; the very southernmost part of the parish lies outside this project area and was not mapped. This part of the parish mostly overlies solid geology of Gault Mudstone Formation, which has heavier clayey soils, and a smaller area on Portland Stone Limestone, where soils are freer draining. Ridge and furrow field systems were mapped almost contiguously across the area around three areas of shrunken settlement at Ford, Moreton and a moated site at Aston Mullins, with the exception of areas along watercourse valleys. Areas of coprolite extraction have also removed some of the field systems. Furlong boundaries can be traced across the area and stack stands can be seen as subcircular mounds south and west of Aston Mullins. Drainage ditches cross the field systems in some areas. (20-47)