Medieval ridge and furrow at Rosario, High Road, Thornwood (EHER 80918)

Medieval to post-medieval ridge and furrow field system.

July to August 2023. Trial trenching. The furrow system identified in the southern part of the site was of undetermined date. Historical records show that the area was heavily wooded in the 11th century. Overlaying the site with different Ordnance Survey historical maps available and analysing old maps such as John Cary's 1790 map of London to Chipping Ongar and the Chapman and Andre map of Essex of 1777, showed that the development site was part of the extensive Thornwood Common from at least the medieval period onwards. From the early 20th century period onwards it was part of land behind residential plots lining the main road, which seem to be too small and irregularly shaped to be subject to an agricultural regime The fairly wide and shallow profile of some the furrows could suggest that they were medieval in date, even though their alignment does not concur with any extant field boundaries. Given the historic and cartographic evidence cited above, a post-medieval date for the furrows cannot be ruled out, in particular as some of the features seemed to cut the subsoil, even though that relationship was not always clear. <1>