andrew f
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Hi, and a question
Jan 01, 2004, 22:48
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Hi, just registered and thought I'd ask a question of you by way of greeting.
Whilst out cycling a couple of days ago I noticed some ridges brought into sharp relief by a light covering of snow. I'm not sure if these are evidence of an earthwork or not. The phenomenon, such as it is, is in the grounds of Radbourne Hall, close to Mickleover, Derby. (And also Radbourne's lovely churchyard which is full of yews). The land it is in is characterised by parallel raised ridges which may, or may not, be indicative of a field system. Nothing is marked on my OS map so beyond my uneducated guesswork I really couldn't say.
As a slight help to you ;-), a photo can be seen at: http://the-north-will-rise-again.co.uk/weblog/pages/08_possible_earthworks.htm
(oh, and i do apologise for the flippant text but i hadn't thought of posting here before writing it!)
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FourWinds
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Re: Hi, and a question
Jan 02, 2004, 08:50
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Welcome to HH.
There's certainly something there, but it's impossible to say what from the photo. Your best bet is to ask at the local library or look at old maps in the main library.
There are also old maps online, which I am sure someone will provide a link for.
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BlueGloves
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Re: Hi, and a question
Jan 02, 2004, 08:54
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Have a look at a 6" OS map - which may be found in the Local Studies section of the main public library. It's a lovely photograph of British countryside and the circle appears to be a small 'henge'. The parallel lines you mention are maybe Ridge and Furrow remnants - a ploughing system nobody has been able to replicate and which may have been connected with strip cultivation.
If the circle is prehistoric then there's bound to be other stuff nearby ...
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Steve Gray
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Re: Ridge and Furrow
Jan 02, 2004, 09:45
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Or Rigg anf Fur as it's called in North Yorkshire. One old local once told me that they ploughed the land like that for two reasons. Firstly, they didn't have reversible ploughs and secondly it more or less guaranteed at least a partial crop in the worst weather. In wet weather the ridges did not get waterlogged and in dry weather the furrows retained some moisture.
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andrew f
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Re: Hi, and a question
Jan 02, 2004, 09:46
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Lovely! Thanks very much. When family and work allow I'll have a look for the map you mention: there's a pretty decent local history library in Derby so I should be able to find some older maps. I might try and get some more photos as soon as I repair my puncture :-)
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BigSweetie
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Re: Hi, and a question
Jan 03, 2004, 08:14
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if you type in the OS reference into Streetmap, you'll see that the you get the 6-figure x/y co-ordinates in the address of the map. take these and put them into this link in place of the "123456"s:
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/oldmaps/index_external.jsp?easting=123456&northing=123456
this will show you the site on the 1866/1867 OS map
using Tom na Chessaig as an example, typing NN770220 into Streetmap gives:
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=277050&Y=722050&A=Y&Z=1
so the Old Maps link for this site would be:
http://www.old-maps.co.uk/oldmaps/index_external.jsp?easting=277050&northing=722050
(watch out for the spaces that appear after the "=" - you need to delete them for the link to work)
Cheers
Andy
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andrew f
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Re: Hi, and a question
Jan 03, 2004, 11:04
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Wow! I'm really impressed by the old-maps.co.uk site. Thanks for the link :-)
Sadly there was nothing marked on the 1887 map, of course if there was a small henge there it doesn't mean it was necessarily sufficiently extant to in the 1880s to be marked on the map. I'll head up there later today or tomorrow and take a few more pics to see what other perspectives suggest. Maybe it'll be excuse enough to produce a weblog page.
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