Monument record 7299 - Medieval Field System at Somerford Park

<1> Various, Written Communication to the HER, Langhorn, R 07/03/2013 (Written Communication). SCH3756.

A network of cropmarks visible on Google Earth show possible field systems.

<2> Google, 2005, Google Earth, 09/12/2013 (Web Site). SCH7272.

Aerial imagery dated 01/01/2006, and attributed, to Getmapping PLC show a complex of linear crop-marks.

<3> Royal Air Force, 1944-1947, 1940s RAF Aerial Photographs from Operation Review (Aerial Photograph). SCH8041.

Some of the field boundaries represented by the crop-marks in source (1) may have be visible as earthworks and/or soil marks.

<3> The GeoInformation Group, 2005, 1940s RAF Aerial Photographs from Operation Review (Aerial Photograph). SCH4608.

Some of the field boundaries represented by the crop-marks in source (1) may have be visible as earthworks and/or soil marks.

<4> Huntings Surveys Ltd, 1971-1973, 1971-1973 County Survey (Aerial Photograph). SCH4881.

Fragments of the the field system are visible as cropmarks.

<5> Airviews Ltd, 1983-5, 1983-1985 Airviews Survey (Aerial Photograph). SCH5296.

Parts of the the field system are visible as cropmarks and/or soil marks.

<6> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Edwards, R 09/12/2013 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

The crop-marks show the field system which predated the establishment of the parkland at Somerford Hall between 1800 and 1819 (see CHER 1150/2/0). The morphology of the field system would seem to indicate that it is at least late medieval in date and some of the field boundaries may have survived as earthworks until the late 1940s (see 3). Although bits and pieces of this field system have been seen on other aerial photographs, none have been as clear as the 2006 image from Google Earth (see 1).

The field system comprises a semi-regular pattern of small sub-rectangular fields with gently semi-parallel curving boundaries. Within many of the fields are a series of parallel subdivisions. Ridge and furrow would be expected in field systems of this date however, the crop-marks seem very sharply defined suggesting that they are not ridge and furrow. They look like narrow shallow ditches and may be associated with the laying out or definition of individual strips within a field. The larger irregular cropmarks are either old sand pits or a natural hollows (kettle holes) created at the end of the last glaciation. It probably the latter as some of the field systems crop-marks appear to overlie them.

<7> Higham N J, 1993, The Origins of Cheshire, p.54 (Book). SCH3768.

Field systems identified by aerial photograph at Somerford Hall comprise a complex of ditched enclosures or fields.

<8> Cheshire Historic Environment Record, 1990-2001, Jill Collens and Rob Philpott's Aerial Photographs, 1994: 3.098-1001 (Aerial Photograph). SCH5403.

Cropmarks showing a semi regular field system.

<9> Various, Written Communication to the HER, Kehoe, T 27/03/2013 (Written Communication). SCH3756.

Some of the treelines shown on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey (see 10) correspond with some of the linear cropmarks and the large dark feature.

<10> Ordnance Survey, 1881-2, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 6 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, 05 SJ86SW 1882 (Maps and Plans). SCH2474.

<11> Higham N J, 1984-9, Professor Nick Higham's Aerial Photographs, 1989/3/7-12, 03/07/1989 (Aerial Photograph). SCH7659.

A network of cropmarks is visible on these aerial photographs.

<12> Historic England & Archaeological Research Services, 2017, Cheshire National Mapping Programme and Lidar Mapping Project: Sampling the Peak Fringe, Cheshire Plain and Mersey Valley, 1603418 (Digital Archive). SCH8172.

This field system was recorded by Historic England's National Mapping Programme in 2017 and is described as follows:-

An extensive field system and associated hollow ways and platforms are visible as earthworks and cropmarks on historic aerial photography and Google Earth imagery, though many of the earthwork elements appear to have been levelled by the latest 2010 vertical imagery. The majority of the surviving features are located in landscaped parkland belonging to Somerford Park, though certain elements do appear to stretch beyond the bounds of the park. It is possible that the features are associated with the postulated medieval settlement of Somerford cum Radnor.