An Introduction to Ridge and Furrow or Open-field Farming

Ridge and furrow field systems are generally believed to come from mediaeval times. The term describes a distinctive pattern of peaks and troughs in a field giving a rippled or corrugated appearance (although this should not be confused with modern field drainage), which is often best observed when the sun is low in the sky.

Such patterns in the landscape provide useful evidence of past use and can occasionally be instrumental in the identification of deserted mediaeval villages.

Forming the ridge-and-furrows

The ridge and furrow systems were often long and narrow, and this is often most evident from aerial photographs. The characteristic shape may have been due to the fact that the ploughs were very heavy and difficult to turn round, so it was in the farmers' interest to plough long furrows. While some ridge-and-furrows may be straight, some curve slightly in an elongated S-shape and it is believed that this was to allow room for the oxen to turn at the end of the furrow.

The plough itself was non-reversing, so it always pushed soil to the same side in relation to the direction of travel. If a plough pushed soil to, say, the left as the plough travelled forward, then when the plough was turned and the farmer came down the other side of the ridge, it could only push even more soil onto the ridge rather than form a new one on the other side.

It would also account for how, where the land was eventually turned over to pasture, these field systems have resisted weather erosion and are still visible centuries later.

Management

There are several ways that cultivation strips may have been used - one is with each being cultivated by a different family, or maybe a family would cultivate several strips in their entirety if they were sufficiently wealthy. Another possibility was for a family to cultivate a portion of each of several adjacent strips so rather than a long, narrow strip of land, they would be responsible for an area of land more recognisable as what we today would think of as a field. Often the entire open field would be given over to one crop, and different crops would be rotated over the years.

The move away from ridge-and-furrow farming

From the late Middle Ages onwards, the open field style of agriculture gradually began to give way to amalgamated plots and enclosures, and this resulted in increasing power for landowners. The move was not popular with everyone, and some of the practices employed were denounced by the Church and the government, eventually leading to the Inclosure Consolidation Act of 1801. As mechanisation was introduced to farming the open field system all but disappeared but there still remain communually managed open filed systems in continental Europe, the practice having been exported over time.

Imperial land measures

It is claimed by some that Imperial measures on the land were derived from open-field farming methods. A ploughman's stick used to prod the oxen was known as a rod, pole or perch, and was five-and-a-half yards long. Laying the pole four times across the field came to 22 yards (a chain); laying the pole 40 times down the field came to 220 yards (a farrowlength, furrowlength or furlong). The area so formed, 4840 square yards, was an acre and was considered the area a plough team could reasonably plough in a day.

More on ridge and furrow on the Internet