Strip lynchets on Stopsley Common

Summary

A series of strip lynchets, understood to date to the Saxon period but possibly earlier.

Reasons for Designation

The strip lynchets, at Stopsley Common, of Saxon or earlier date, are scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Archaeological potential; for the deep and well preserved stratified deposits which have the potential not only to help in identifying the structural features but also the dating of the monument. The buried land surface will harbour important historic environment indicators to help in the understanding of contemporary land use patterns and the historic natural environment;

* Survival: as a discrete and well preserved group of lynchets of considerable scale and quality;

* Vulnerability: as a vulnerable monument on the edge of the urban landscape with huge potential of retaining nationally important archaeological deposits.

History

Strip lynchets are cultivation terraces dating from the pre-Roman Iron Age onwards. They were formed when a single coulter plough cut a single furrow backwards and forwards along the slope of the hill. Over time the upper side of the hill became eroded and through continued ploughing, rain wash and wind erosion soil was transported down slope until it met an obstacle, often a fence or hedge. Gradually soil built up against the obstacle to form a step or riser. The original obstacle maybe a deliberate construction or consequently incorporated into the lynchet and sometimes raised higher to prevent further loss of soil down slope.

At Stopsley Common the strip lynchets run roughly north to south across Stopsley Common and are understood to be of Saxon date. Although an earlier date is possible, most sets of lynchets were created in the C12 or C13, when the population of England, and the demand for foodstuffs, reached an unprecedented height. Originally the lynchets formed part of one of the longest runs in England at 6.5km but at least by the late C19 (as seen on the 1881 first edition OS maps) they had been reduced by modern agricultural practices and housing development to just under 1km. In the C19 some of the lynchets had individual names such as Nails Hill Common and Dancers Lynch.

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
The strip lynchets are located on an escarpment of the Chilterns on the northern outskirts of Luton, and stretch for c960m from Badgers Hill Road at the southern end to a field boundary at the northern end. They survive as a series of earthworks and buried remains which define six, graduated linear terraces with steps or risers on the down slope (western edge) of each. A trackway divides the flight of lynchets roughly east to west and would have provided access for the plough teams to the individual terraces.

DESCRIPTION
The lynchets form six steps to the north and five to the south of the trackway, which curves down the hillside and links to a footpath leading through the modern housing to the west. On average the terraces are c12m wide while the risers or steps survive as steep banks up to 3.5m high. At the southern end of the scheduled area the earthworks have been cut by a small quarry which has been identified on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1884) as a chalk pit but documentation also suggests the site of a lime kiln. Beyond the area of assessment to the north the terraces have been ploughed flat as a result of modern agricultural practices although soil marks still indicate the line of the lynchets.

The Historic Environment Record indicates an exploratory archaeological excavation of one of the lynchets has been carried out although the date and details of the work is not documented. The excavation did however reveal that 1.46m of soil had built up against a drystone boundary wall.

The trackway that divides the flight is c200m long and on average is 1.2m wide with a bank along its northern side. A tithe map of 1844 suggests the trackway runs between holdings, and on the 1846 Estate Map one holding is called ‘piece under the steps’. It seems likely that the track either pre-dates or is contemporary with the lynchets, the bank on the south side being caused by the plough moving the soil down the slope away from the trackway. The height of this bank indicates a long period of use and might suggest a Roman or pre-Roman date of origin for the trackway.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING
The extent of scheduling stretches for c1km from Badgers Hill Road and St Thomas’s Road on the southern edge to a field boundary in the north which marks the boundary between Central Bedfordshire and Luton Unitary Authorities. It is a linear parcel of land which is aligned roughly north to south. On the eastern side it is defined by a modern field boundary fence and remnants of a metal estate boundary fence and on the western edge by an intermittent field boundary fence north of the central trackway. South of the trackway the scheduled area runs along the rear boundaries of properties fronting onto Lippitts Hill.

EXCLUSIONS
All modern fences, signs and steps are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath all these structures in included.

Sources

Books and journals
Taylor, C, Fields in the English Landscape, (1975)
Bigmore, P, Beds And Hunts Landscape, (1979)
Evans, J. G., Introduction to environmental archaeology, (1978)
, H. C. Bowen, Ancient Fields, (1962)
Reynolds, P.J., Ancient Farming, (1987)
James, Dyer, The Stopsley Book, (2005)

Other
Bedfordshire HER entry 209 - Badgers Hill Lynchets

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