We were up bright and early this morning and took the dogs for a walk at Bramshall Road Park in Uttoxeter, a place I’d never explored. Imagine my surprise when I spotted some stunning ridge and furrow formations right in the middle of the park!
What is Ridge and Furrow?
Ridge and furrow is a striking feature of medieval farming that still marks the English landscape today. It was created by ox-drawn ploughs repeatedly turning the soil in the same direction over centuries, forming raised ridges where crops were planted and deep furrows that helped with drainage. This method was widely used during the medieval open-field system, where communities worked large communal fields divided into strips. Farmers didn’t own individual plots as we do today, instead, they worked on long, narrow sections within shared fields.
The ridges we see today were never intentionally designed as permanent features. Instead, they built up gradually as the plough cut through the soil, pushing it outward with each pass. Over centuries, the result was a rolling wave-like pattern, often best seen in the early morning or late afternoon light, when the shadows highlight them.
The History Behind It
The ridge and furrow system dates back as early as the Anglo-Saxon period, though it became widespread in the 12th and 13th centuries. It was the backbone of medieval agriculture, particularly in the Midlands and North Staffordshire, where heavy clay soils made good drainage essential.
This method persisted until the 18th and 19th centuries when Enclosure Acts gradually ended the open-field system. Wealthier landowners fenced off common lands, reorganised agriculture into private farms and introduced new, more efficient ploughing techniques. Over time, many ridge and furrow fields were levelled for modern farming or lost to urban development. However, in areas left undisturbed, such as parks, pastures, or woodlands, the ridges remain a visible footprint of medieval life.
History is Everywhere!
Seeing these ridges in Bramshall Road Park is a reminder that history isn’t just locked away in museums, it’s all around us, hidden in the landscape, waiting to be noticed. Once you learn to recognise ridge and furrow, you start spotting them everywhere in older fields and open spaces.
Now, if only this weren’t a council-owned park… I’d love to get permission from the landowner to metal detect here. Imagine the lost artefacts buried beneath those ridges, medieval coins, tools, buttons, brooches, or even personal items dropped by farmworkers centuries ago! These ploughed fields would have seen generations of people toiling the land, each leaving their own traces behind.
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