Shropshire Routes to Roots

2. Evidence

most importantly - out in the countryside in your local library and archives (Acton Scott Historic Working Farm has a specialist book collection) on old and new maps in photographs - particularly aerial from local residents oral history sources (Acton Scott Historic Working Farm has an oral history library) from local history study groups from websites about your area

Aerial view of Oswestry from the south - 1966 Larger image, in a new window [52kb] [Oswestry Library]

• ridges and mounds in fields that may once have been hedgerows or buildings
• a few isolated trees in a line that may once have been standing in hedgerows
• abandoned and overgrown gateways that are too narrow for big machinery
• abandoned and overgrown lanes that used to link farms and building that no longer exist
• farm buildings that have changed use - 'barn conversions'
• abandoned upland fields

Trees on a ridge Larger image, in a new window [34kb] [Reproduced with kind permission of Chris Hurrell]	Disused field gate Larger image, in a new window [28kb] [Reproduced with kind permission of Chris Hurrell]	Farm building conversion Larger image, in a new window [28kb] [Reproduced with kind permission of Chris Hurrell]
The trees on a ridge were part of a boundary to the Oswestry - Welshpool road at the Morda Road Junction before the A438 section of the Oswestry by-pass was built and the junction re-aligned. The wall in the foreground is very much newer than the wall bounding the original road. 2004.	Disused field gate in a narrow lane near Coed y Go, Oswestry. The two stone gate posts indicate that this gate is old, as stone is rarely used now for field gates for economic reasons. The gateway is also too narrow to take large agricultural vehicles. A newer and much wider gateway set back into the field is nearby. 2004.	Farm building that are being converted to non-agricultural use indicate a changing economic climate in agriculture: a 'barn conversion.' In this case buildings are being converted into a holiday centre. Coed y Go, Oswestry, 2004.

Field boundries changing Larger image, in a new window 35kb] [Reproduced with kind permission of Chris Hurrell]	Small fields become larger Larger image, in a new window [25kb] [Reproduced with kind permission of Chris Hurrell]	Farming changes gardening Larger image, in a new window [48kb] [Reproduced with kind permission of Chris Hurrell]
A once tall field boundary hedge that has been layed and protected from stock by a netting fence. The hedge line to the left has been similarly treated in the past and the one on the right is ripe for the same treatment. A49 All Stretton, 2004.	A large field created from a few smaller ones. Old boundaries shown by tree lines and a once hedged watercourse running NW from the centre of the image. Lyth Hill, 2004.	A traditional farming practice of hedgelaying applied in a domestic situation. A short section of layed hedge in front of a semi-urban house. Church Stretton, 2004.

Question

Can you find similar, or better, evidence in your area?

Read an article  (Opens in a new window) about the history of field formation in Shropshire by Shropshire Archaeology Service and Shropshire Hills Countryside Unit.

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