FIELD SYSTEMS AND PLACE NAMES
OF OLD KNOTTINGLEY
SOME FACTS AND THEORIES
by TERRY SPENCER B.A.(Hons), Ph D.
INTRODUCTION : BEGINNINGS :
DOMESDAY : PORT OF KNOTTINGLEY
MANORIAL RE-ORGANISATION :
GAZETTEER
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study is to
consider the topography of modern day Knottingley and by reference to
sparse documentary sources and within the context of general historical
trends, formulate a theoretical model concerning the development of the
settlement during the medieval and post medieval eras as reflected in the
field systems adopted.
The appearance of the countryside which
surrounds the town today is one of fields, mostly rectangular in shape, with
straight line boundaries and of variable size, the area of each being defined
by a hedge, fence or wall.
The prevailing system of relatively
small enclosures is of quite recent origin being largely created in
consequence of the privately sponsored Enclosure Act in the late eighteenth
century. Paradoxically, the system inaugurated by the wholesale adoption of
enclosures mirrored the initial pattern of cultivation utilised by the
earliest settlers on the site of the modern town.
Settlements by the Anglo Saxons in
forest clearings such as that which was to develop into the manorial vill of
Notinglea (Knottingley) a few centuries later, were dependent on
agriculture and thus by use of axe and fire, clearance of the surrounding
woodland was necessary to provide land for crop cultivation. The process of
clearance, known as assarting, resulted in the piecemeal accumulation of small
areas of cultivable soil which, undistinguished by fence or hedge, provided
the nucleus for the eventual incorporation of individual clones into the
common field pattern known as the open field system of agriculture, widely in
use by the tenth century as the basis of manorial land tenure.
Under this system, the inhabitants of a
manorial vill held strips of land in various parts of the open fields in
return for labour service on the land of the manorial lord, known as the
demesne. Each peasant holding was roughly equal in size to that of fellow
inhabitants, the individual strips being scattered throughout the area of the
open field to ensure fair apportionment of good and inferior soil.
The expansion of the open fields
naturally depended upon factors such as the ease of land clearance and
preparation for cultivation, the variability and fertility of soil composition
and demographic growth. As settlements became well established a two field
system was generally developed with one field in a given year used for
cropping while the other lay fallow to enable restoration of the natural
nutrients within the soil.
The population of the country in general
increased rapidly between the eleventh and early fourteenth centuries and by
the thirteenth century a majority of manors had, of necessity, adopted the
three field method of crop rotation commonly known as the Midland Field
System, in an effort to boost agricultural production by more efficient use of
the land.
In addition to cultivated strips, each
peasant had the customary right to graze a set number of animals on the
surrounding common or wasteland and had free access to the timber, stone and
turf found there.
The method of open field agriculture
lasted about 450 years until a combination of socio economic change largely
prompted by the Black Death of 1348-50, undermined the feudal system,
promoting the tendency to consolidate and enclose land holdings. The process
received a more universal application from the mid-eighteenth century and by
the mid-nineteenth century, Knottingley’s fields had been transformed into the
pattern seen today.
Whatever the field system, it was
necessary to give specific field areas a name in order to distinguish a
particular field from the surrounding land in order to avoid operational
chaos. Initially, names were transmitted orally but from the sixteenth century
they increasingly appeared on maps, estate plans and in legal documents such
as land conveyances. With the passage of time, some names were transformed
whilst others became obsolete. Today, only the occupying farmers and a handful
of local historians know and refer to the field names commonly used by former
generations. The general public is, alas, unaware of the rich historical
legacy contained in the field and place names of the township in which they
now reside or work.
Terry Spencer
INTRODUCTION : BEGINNINGS :
DOMESDAY : PORT OF KNOTTINGLEY
MANORIAL RE-ORGANISATION :
GAZETTEER
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