Ridge and Furrow in Healing

To the west of Healing Manor is evidence of how our Medieval ancestors worked the land - a ridge and furrow field. Consisting of approximately foot-high earthworks, crops would be sown along the ridge.

The plough would turn the soil over to the right, meaning that the same ridge couldn't be ploughed twice. We get the word 'furlong' from 'furrow-long', because the length of a furrow was about 220 yards (200 metres).

The plough was pulled by small oxen.

In terms of wildlife, the thick grass supports plenty of these little grasshoppers:

And also many rabbits are present on site.

Regards,

James