tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post7812206841958396476..comments2024-02-07T23:23:13.726+00:00Comments on The Fylde and Wyre Antiquarian: Mediaeval Agriculture on the Fleetwood PeninsulaBrian Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00350965110160879688noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-55813901983536824662009-04-09T22:09:00.000+01:002009-04-09T22:09:00.000+01:00John,They're not created by lawnmowers because...w...<B>John,<BR/><BR/>They're not created by lawnmowers because...well...Bourne Hill isn't the sort of place you would, or even could, mow with a lawnmower. (And besides, we were up there a couple of days before and after Frank took the photos, and nobody had attempted to mow the hill in the interim.)<BR/><BR/>The same applies to agricultural fields...people just wouldn't mow areas like that.<BR/><BR/>As far as Bourne Hill goes, you can actually see the faint undulations of the mediaeval ploughlines at ground level in the right light and so long as you know what you're looking for. We'd never noticed them before last week, because we didn't know they were there. It's a bit like one of those double-image visual puzzle things where you can only see the answer once you've been informed about it.</B>Brian Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00350965110160879688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-10672233260493848002009-04-09T21:06:00.000+01:002009-04-09T21:06:00.000+01:00Maybe a dumb question, but how do you know you're ...Maybe a dumb question, but how do you know you're not looking at trails left by lawnmowers? I mean, I understand these type of sites are visible from the air, but if these furrows and stuff are casting shadows, how can footballers run on these fields without tripping every other step?<BR/><BR/>Maybe some grounsd photos to accompany these fantastic aerial photos would give a second perspective?<BR/><BR/>Thanks in advance, JOHN :0)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15142977785391302797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-56953112961401590482009-04-09T17:22:00.000+01:002009-04-09T17:22:00.000+01:00Chris,fnargh fnargh!I can't believe this. WV = Bay...<B>Chris,<BR/><BR/>fnargh fnargh!<BR/><BR/>I can't believe this. WV = Baygm! How Lancastrian is that?</B>Brian Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00350965110160879688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-37191411621401146522009-04-09T14:29:00.000+01:002009-04-09T14:29:00.000+01:00The version I heard ended with..."As a scaffold fo...The version I heard ended with...<BR/><BR/>"As a scaffold for her melons."chris2553https://www.blogger.com/profile/17373284145685953847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-4273353586955994722009-04-09T10:21:00.000+01:002009-04-09T10:21:00.000+01:00Ah...old Mr Titmarsh. What was that other rhyme of...<B>Ah...old Mr Titmarsh. What was that other rhyme of his?<BR/><BR/>'Decking for the patio,<BR/>And all the other bits,<BR/>And some for Charlie Dimmock,<BR/>As a scaffold for her sweet peas.'<BR/><BR/>At least I think that's how it went.</B>Brian Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00350965110160879688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-88643750722773379912009-04-09T09:45:00.000+01:002009-04-09T09:45:00.000+01:00Yep, the 1 in 4 fallow field rotation was to also ...Yep, the 1 in 4 fallow field rotation was to also stop any bacteria/virus' building up in the soil from the same crop time after time.<BR/>There's a few different variations of that rhyme floating about but I first heard it from your favourite - Alan Titmarsh on one of his gardening specials :PJaynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13887495757366973130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-43866939846595537862009-04-09T09:03:00.000+01:002009-04-09T09:03:00.000+01:00Jayne,I've never heard of that rhyme. I do know th...<B>Jayne,<BR/><BR/>I've never heard of that rhyme. I do know that mediaeval farming was based on crop rotation, leaving one out of every four fields fallow (or something...I think it was one in four but I could be wrong...I'd need to ask Michelle really) to allow for the reintroduction of essential nutrients to the soil. The Anglo Saxon Chronicles also catalogue the number of droughts and fires and crop plagues etc that swept through Blighty in the early mediaeval period, far, far worse than you'd get today. So much for global warming.</B>Brian Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00350965110160879688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-71646206007210498262009-04-09T02:08:00.000+01:002009-04-09T02:08:00.000+01:00Meant to add -Owing to the gardening/agricultural ...Meant to add -<BR/>Owing to the gardening/agricultural rhyme<BR/>"One for the cutworm<BR/>One for the crow,<BR/>One to rot<BR/>and one to grow"<BR/>leads one to assume they had a high rate of crop failure and were sowing at least 4 times as much as they needed to assure harvest.Jaynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13887495757366973130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-63438277627941884812009-04-09T01:26:00.000+01:002009-04-09T01:26:00.000+01:00I reckon they were in greater numbers than histori...I reckon they were in greater numbers than historians give them credit for.<BR/>Travel (of any distance) was unheard of,dangerous and Just.Not.Done.<BR/>They'd have just kept on marrying and breeding, in the one spot, increasing in number the mouths to be fed.Jaynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13887495757366973130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-15915854338487939222009-04-08T16:19:00.000+01:002009-04-08T16:19:00.000+01:00Anonymous,Now that I come to look again (with a co...<B>Anonymous,<BR/><BR/>Now that I come to look again (with a couple of strong coffees inside me) you might well have a point about that drainage system. I remember writing a board on the subject of field drains for the museum a couple of years back (which I'd forgotten about), and those lines do have certain herring bone layout to them. There are a few fainter lines underneath, though, and further up Rossall Lane in the field next to the car park at Farmer Parrs, there are some very distinctive mediaeval plough lines. (You can see them clearly at ground level...worth taking a gander at if you're into that sort of thing.) But you've got a good point about the Rossall School photograph.<BR/><BR/>John,</B><BR/><BR/>"...maybe you could tell us why so much food was needed in that time period?"<BR/><BR/><B>Possibly because mediaeval fridges were no good. To be honest, I've never thought about it. Peaants seldom ate meat, I know that, so maybe there was a need to bulk up with lots of corn and stuff instead. Nowadays, of course, most of our vegetable crops are grown elsewhere in Europe. Britain's more independent status back then was probably connected to the amount of home grown food as well.</B>Brian Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00350965110160879688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-12031604653326266722009-04-08T13:54:00.000+01:002009-04-08T13:54:00.000+01:00I win! I topped 1000 points easy!Very nice articl...I win! I topped 1000 points easy!<BR/><BR/>Very nice article, and great argument, that, mentioning the mills and stuff as support to your theory. Good point.<BR/><BR/>Whilst travelling from Avebury to Bath once, I snapped a photo of a terraced hillside which was mediaeval in nature, and we were told that in those days every bit of land was plowed and planted to support the population in those days. Even if the Wyre is/was a bit boggy, I'm sure many an agricultural technique was developed in that time to assure plenty of food for those who could afford it.<BR/><BR/>My mediaeval history is rusty right now, so maybe you could tell us why so much food was needed in that time period?<BR/><BR/>Cheers, JOHN :0)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15142977785391302797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-7977806082345655222009-04-08T13:52:00.000+01:002009-04-08T13:52:00.000+01:00Andrew,No...they're more relatively modern ploughl...<B>Andrew,<BR/><BR/>No...they're more relatively modern ploughlines I suspect. The mediaeval ones are visble through them running at different angle.</B>Brian Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00350965110160879688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-17740128438175698632009-04-08T12:20:00.000+01:002009-04-08T12:20:00.000+01:00In the second last picture, the really obvious lin...In the second last picture, the really obvious lines aren't what you are talking about are they?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-25587261996825482712009-04-08T10:32:00.000+01:002009-04-08T10:32:00.000+01:00Drainage on a level playing field? It's an interes...<B>Drainage on a level playing field? It's an interesting idea. If the school ever gives us permission to dig their rugby pitches up we'll be able to check...although somehow I suspect the board of govenors wouldn't be too chuffed with the suggestion.</B>Brian Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00350965110160879688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34515154.post-41149851735866747352009-04-08T09:28:00.000+01:002009-04-08T09:28:00.000+01:00The lines on the Rossall photo, at least, look mor...The lines on the Rossall photo, at least, look more like tile drainage to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com