Co-axial field boundaries, Wharfedale

Description

Co-axial field boundary, Conistone Old Pasture in Wharfedale MYD36581 (c) YDNPA, 2023

Six separate groups of the so-called co-axial field systems have been found between Kettlewell and Grassington in Wharfedale. As the name implies, these later prehistoric field systems are characterised by long, parallel boundaries walls or banks . In Wharfedale, the main boundaries are spaced 30-50 metres apart. Occasionally closely spaced boundaries are found and these may represent droveways. The co-axial boundaries rise from the edge of the land ploughed during the Medieval period, straight across a series of limestone benches and scars, right up on to the limestone plateau. It is not clear whether they ever extended the other way, down on to the valley floor.

One block can be found above Grassington on an area known as Lea Green. The surviving co-axial system still covers more than 60 hectares (145 acres), and appears to have been later modified into a series of smaller fields, some nearly square, others rectangular. A number of curved-sided enclosures within the system may represent farmsteads. Some of these fields would have been used for growing spelt wheat and barley, but animal husbandry probably remained as the mainstay of the economy.

Co-axial field boundary, Conistone Old Pasture in Wharfedale MYD36581 (c) YDNPA, 2023

View of Co-axial field boundaries, Conistone Old Pasture in Wharfedale MYD36581 (c) YDNPA, 2023

Source:

White, Robert (2002) The Yorkshire Dales. A Landscape Through Time. Ilkley: Great Northern Books