Distribution of Land 1580

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The distribution of the majority of the land in the three open fields in 1580 is given in the following tables. The information is taken from Tables 49 to 51 of Professor Chibnall’s book “Sherington: Fiefs and Fields of a Buckinghamshire Village”. See also: Distribution of land in the Demesne area.

Note: The tables only list those fields for which terriers were available: approximately 70% of the total.

Marehill Field
Furlong Acreage
Barrend Hole 3
Broadmoor 6 1⁄12
Bredonwell 3 1⁄4
Clay 9 1⁄4
Little furlong between Cowpasture and Clay 1 1⁄4
Shotting to Cowmead 3 5⁄12
Under Down hedge or fence or Coppedmore 6 1⁄4
Dowsdale 5 3⁄4
Cross furlong above Dowsdale 1 1⁄2
Dropwell Leys 3 1⁄2
Foxenhill 10 1⁄6
Cross furlong above Furmity Bush 2 7⁄12
Gore Broad 4 3⁄4
Godescote 9 1⁄6
Furlong shooting above Godescote   1⁄4
Furlong under Godescote 2 5⁄6
Upper furlong in Godescote 5 3⁄4
Goldsworth 8
Long Greenditch 8 2⁄3
Short Greenditch 6
Under Greenditch   3⁄4
One Hole (Deep furrow) 9 2⁄3
Shooting to Filgrave hedge 2
Mare Hill 29 5⁄6
Patch 1 2⁄3
Price (Breche) 13 5⁄12
Under Price   1⁄4
Little furlong above Price 2
Scragen Hill 4
Stoney Clay 3 7⁄12
Stoney Clay shooting to Walcot 5 1⁄4
Stuttels alias Dropwell 10
Below Stuttels 1 1⁄2
Walcott 15 11⁄12
Cross Alban 5 1⁄2
TOTAL 206 2⁄3

 

Windmill Field
Furlong Acreage
Under the Ash 11
Blackland 12 1⁄4
Bullocks leys 8 7⁄12
Denson alias Monchlade 8
Gomeshole 8 1⁄2
Holbrooke alias Dagger way 4 3⁄4
Little Furlong at Holbrook Hill 1 1⁄3
Hollow Willow patch 6 1⁄2
Beyond Hollow Willow Bush 1 5⁄6
Homer Side of Hollow Willow Bush 5
Short furlong above Holloway 4 1⁄4
Holloway 3 3⁄4
Furlong beneath Holloway 1
Holloway Slade   3⁄4
Hunger Hill 6 1⁄2
Short furlong under Hunger Hill 3 3⁄4
Bacon’s womb or Miller’s Knob 3 3⁄4
Middle Malme 2 1⁄6
Nether Malme 5 1⁄2
Upper Malme 2 1⁄2
Pinson Hill 6 5⁄6
Raye 3 11⁄12
Above Rensfurrow 2 1⁄2
Rensfurrow 2
Ruden Hill 9 1⁄4
Rye 5 2⁄3
Sim Shooters (to Wolfreycroft) 1 3⁄4
Standhill Marsh 8 1⁄12
Staple Hill 12 1⁄3
Scardingswell 3 3⁄4
Townsend (including furongs
named Upper Hay, under Burnt Leys, Hay, abutting down to New Close, abutting
down to highway, Mr Catesby’s Townsend)		 17 1⁄3
Whitwell 5 1⁄3
Windmill 21 1⁄4
Wolfreycroft 4 1⁄2
TOTAL 206 1⁄16

 

MiddleField
Furlong Acreage
Above Town Ditch Backside 6 11⁄12
Cow Mead   1⁄2
Elderstub 1 1⁄4
Foxenhill 11 5⁄12
Fully Hill 12 1⁄12
Gusitslade 14 7⁄12
Ryeslade 12 1⁄12
Course’s Townsend 4
Walcote 17 1⁄4
Yard’s end 7 5⁄8
TOTAL Above Town Ditch 87
Below Town Ditch Alborough 11 1⁄6
Bridge Leys 6 3⁄4
North side of Clots or Tonditch 11 3⁄4
Clots 3 3⁄4
Clots slade 3 3⁄4
Delves 7 1⁄3
England 1 3⁄4
Farthingstile   3⁄4
Hareland 7 3⁄4
Longland 7 3⁄4
Meadow without Lords 4
Millway 8 1⁄4
Pusty 10
Little furlong above Pusty 1 1⁄2
Water Furrows 4 7⁄8
Water Swallows   1⁄2
Wetherhedge 3 1⁄4
TOTAL Below Town Ditch 91 7⁄8
All TOTAL 178 7⁄8

 

Summary – Area covered by terriers
3-field system in 1580 2-field system in 1300
Marehill Field 206 2⁄3 acres West Field 293 3⁄4 acres
Windmill Field 2061⁄16 acres South Field 304 1⁄8 acres
Middle Field 178 3⁄4 acres
TOTAL 597 7⁄8 acres TOTAL 597 7⁄8 acres

 

Based on his analysis of the part of Windmill Field lying south of Bedford Road, where there was no cowpasture, Professor Chibnall believed the available terriers had accounted for 183 acres of an area known to contain 260 acres, suggesting he could apply a scaling factor of 260:183 or 1.42:1 to account for the missing information. He then assumed a similar factor applied to the other fields. After also allowing for the meadows, he concluded that the remaining area in the other fields still unaccounted for must be the cowpasture. This analysis led to the following overall distribution of land, as published in Table 52 in Chibnall’s book. (The corresponding data for 1300 is from Table 4)

Computed Distribution of Land
1580 1300
Acres Acres Acres Acres
Demesne Arable land 311 Demesne North Field, arable and pasture 214 1⁄2
Pasture 218 East Field, arable and pasture 138
East Field, le Hoo Park 84
South Field, arable and pasture 911⁄2
Hazlemead 23 West Field, Willowmed 23
Total 552 Total 551
Woods How Wood 26 Woods 78
Mercers’ Wood 21
Heyton Wood 18
Linford Wood 17
Total 82
Common fields Marehill 293 Common fields West Field 423
Middle 260 South Field 427
Windmill 296
Total 849 Total 850
Non-demesne closes 22 3⁄4 Non-demesne closes as 1580?
Cowpasture 97 Cowpasture as 1580?
Meadows 54 Meadows as 1580?
Farms and home closes 64 Farms and home closes as 1580?
Cottages 9 1⁄4 Cottages as 1580?
Roads 22 Roads as 1580?
TOTAL 1752 TOTAL 1748

Other assumptions:

  • The non-demesne closes are plots numbered 11, 13, 31-33, 41, 43, 56, 57 and 75 on the 1796 Enclosure Map.
  • The farms and home closes are plots numbered 15-24, 28, 29, 40, 46, 52, 137-139, 147-152, 154-159, 163, 167, 176, 177, 179-182, 187, 188, 194, 195, 198 and 202 on the 1796 Enclosure Map.
  • The cottages are those listed on the 1796 Enclosure Map.
  • The roads are as stated on the 1796 Enclosure Map.

The total area on the 1796 enclosure map is 1763 1⁄2 acres.

 

Maps:

Complete map of Sherington in 1580.

Larger scale maps of the four quadrants: North West, North East, South West, South East.

Note that there are a number of detailed discrepancies between the information on the map and that given in the tables.

In 1580, farming followed a 3-year cycle. The arable land was therefore divided into three fields: Marehill Field, Middle Field and Windmill Field. The division is shown on the Field map