Mayfield strip lynchets

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1002963
Date first listed:: 13-Jun-1968

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1002963
Date first listed:: 13-Jun-1968

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Staffordshire
District:: East Staffordshire (District Authority)
Parish:: Mayfield
National Grid Reference:: SK 15549 46131

Summary

Strip lynchets 130m south east of Ivy Cottage.

Reasons for Designation

Strip lynchets are artificially created cultivation terraces found on hillslopes which create a characteristically stepped profile. They were created by ploughing around the hillslope following the contours. The effect of this ploughing was to cut into the hillslope and to spread soil out onto the downslope to form a level platform which could then be used for cultivation. Such contour ploughing prevented major soil erosion on the hillslope and probably also helped retain moisture. Such terraced field systems originated in the prehistoric period and continued in practice into the medieval period. The cultivation terraces 130m south east of Ivy Cottage survive well as prominent landscape features. They are one of relatively few types of ancient field system and an important source for studying the history of land use and agricultural practices.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 3 July 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a series of six strip lynchets on an east facing slope situated in an elevated position overlooking the River Dove. The strip lynchets survive as terraces between 1.5 and 2m high and 10 and 20m wide. They are shortest in length at the higher end of the slope and increase in length down the slope ranging from 80 and 140m in length. Although the origin of the terraces is unknown it is believed they are the result of ploughing or cultivation from the medieval period or earlier.

A feature thought to be the possible site of a barrow lies to the south west corner of the monument and as this feature has not been formally assessed its relationship, if any, with the terraces is unknown. Other well preserved cultivation terraces or lynchets appear to survive 500m to the north west but any relationship between the two sites has not been formally assessed.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: ST 168
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
Pastscape: 307473, HER: DST5882 & NMR: SK14NE14

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.