Suffolk: Landscape Types
Type 1.0. PRE-18TH-CENTURY ENCLOSURE. This category refers to land that was enclosed into fields for agriculture before 1700. In most of Suffolk the landscape is one of
‘ancient enclosure’, in contrast to areas like the Midlands, where extensive areas of common fields (large ‘open’ fields subdivided into separately-owned strips) were enclosed using parliamentary acts in the 18th and 19th centuries. In many of the areas of ‘ancient enclosure’ in Suffolk there is little evidence for a medieval phase of common-field farming: some areas had limited areas of common fields (as in north Suffolk) but in others there were none (as is often the case in south Suffolk). The identification of these earlier landscapes, which date back to medieval and in some cases even earlier, was a priority behind the development of the HLC mapping. These earlier landscapes are of great historic significance and have different management needs to later field systems.
The pre-18th century enclosure landscape type covers a number of sub-types, as detailed below:
Sub-type 1.1. Pre-18th-century enclosure – random fields. Landscapes made up of fields that have an irregular pattern (i.e. without any dominant axis). Many were in existence by the medieval period, but could be earlier. Boundaries are usually take the form of species-rich hedges (normally coppiced not laid) with associated ditches and banks. Areas with this field pattern are probably some of our earliest farming landscapes.
Sub-type 1.2. Pre-18th-century enclosure – rectilinear fields. This is not a dominant type in Suffolk. Landscapes of this type are made up of fields that tend to be small and rectilinear in shape, forming patterns that resemble the brickwork in a wall. They tend to exist in isolated pockets within more extensive areas of other types of early enclosure, and probably indicate relatively late episodes of field creation or re-organisation, although still pre-18th century, within earlier
surroundings.
Sub-type 1.3. Pre-18th-century enclosure – long co-axial fields. Landscapes made up of fields where a high proportion of the boundaries share a dominant axis. This takes the form of long, slightly sinuous lines that run roughly parallel to each other for considerable distances. These lines usually run at right angles to a significant watercourse. Co-axial systems are not all of the same date – some in valley-side positions may represent very early farming boundaries, but others on the clay plateaux are likely to be medieval in date (as in parts of the South Elmhams).
Sub-type 1.4. Pre-18th-century enclosure – irregular co-axial fields. Landscapes where many of the boundaries share a common axis. They share many of the characteristics of long co-axial fields (sub-type 1.3) but lack their overall regularity and their boundaries are often only approximately parallel. The systems vary in size, merge in and out of one another, and generally fail to follow one particular aspect or angle. In some cases these systems represent the early, piecemeal, enclosure of common fields.
Sub-type 1.5. Pre-18th-century enclosure – former medieval deer park. Deer parks were important symbols of lordship in the medieval period and normally consisted of areas of woodland, wood pasture and open grassland (launds), bounded by banks and ditches with hedging and/or wooden fences to form a ‘park pale’. Park pales frequently have curved outlines as this was the most economic way of enclosing large areas. Deer parks were frequently situated on upland clay areas unsuited to agriculture and can therefore be at some distance from the lordship centre that they served. The parks functioned as deer farms, supplying venison for the lord’s table, with a variable amount of actual hunting. Parks could also include rabbit warrens and fishponds, also supplying food for the lord. Lodges within the parks supplied accommodation for a parker and/or a visiting lord. Some parks were in existence by 1086, but the majority appear to have been active in the period 1200-1400. Most were ‘disparked’ by the 16th Century and turned over to agriculture, but the legacy in the landscape can survive, in terms of names, field patterns and boundary features
Sub-type 1.6. Pre-18th-century enclosure – former marsh or fenland. Areas of inland marsh or fen that was enclosed before 1700. Enclosures frequently have curvilinear boundaries and drainage ditches, often reflecting pre-existing channels and streams.
Sub-type 1.7. Pre-18th-century enclosure – former coastal marsh. Areas of coastal marsh that was enclosed before 1700. Enclosures frequently have curvilinear boundaries and drainage ditches, often reflecting pre-existing channels and creeks.
Sub-type 1.8. Pre-18th-century enclosure – planned allotments. Areas of fenland that were allotted to ‘adventurers’ (i.e. investors) in the 17th-century fen drainage enterprises. These are characterised by their straight-edged, geometric shapes associated with straight drains and roads. They may also have a farmstead set within a block of fields.