Monument record 4550 - Ridge & Furrow Earthworks

Ridges visible in winter when vegetation is low and light is favourable. Lie adjacent and at right angles to the Wirral Way. Approx 10-11m from furrow top to furrow top, extending for 100m laterally and with each strip 10s of meters long. The ridges were presumably made by Parkgate residents, and if their line were extended they would reach the plots that extend along the former waterfront. As the village is not believed to have existed until the late seventeenth century, and the land was previously a deer park, this appears to preclude a medieval date. Their pattern fits with Thomas Boydell's map (1770-1) which shows Parkgate as the only place where strip like fields still existed, as opposed to the more rounded and square enclosures elsewhere, therefore they may be relics of an earlier landscape (1).

<1> Various, Written Communication to the HER, A Annakin-Smith 25/11/2006 (Written Communication). SCH3756.