Yeovil's Virtual Museum

Higher Preston Field

Remnant of a large Medieval manorial field

 

Preston Plucknett's Preston Field, also known as North Field, was originally a large Medieval manorial field along the western parish boundary of Preston Plucknett, lying to the south of another large Medieval field called Field's End. Preston Field was bounded by the parish boundary with Brympton in the west and to the east by the field access track known as Eighteen Acre Lane.

By the time of the 1763 Survey of the Manor of Preston, the large Medieval field had been broken up into a number of smaller fields and Higher Preston Field, recalling the earlier Medieval field name, was one of these. It was located in the centre of the northern half of the former Preston Field.

The 1846 Preston Tithe Map shows the field called Higher Preston Field (Parcel 58). It was bounded on the north by Quarr Close (Parcel 59), on the west by Nap Furlong (Parcel 57), to the south by Pitt's Corner (Parcel 56) and to the east by Church Acre (Parcel 60) and Hundred Acre and Ellis's (Parcel 54).

The Preston Plucknett Tithe Apportionment of 1848 noted that Quarr Close was owned by Lady Georgiana Fane of Brympton d'Evercy and the tenant was Thomas Hawkins (who was a tenant of over 200 acres in over 40 parcels in the parish). The field measured 4 acres, 1 roods and 6 perches and was used as arable land for growing crops.

By the time of the 1946 aerial photograph (see below) Higher Preston Field had been combined with Nap Furlong to form a single larger field. It finally disappeared when the Abbey Manor estate was built in the 1980s and the site is now occupied by the eastern culs-de-sac of Malmesbury Way and the western culs-de-sac of The Toose.

 

For details on historic land measurement (ie acres, roods and perches) click here.

 

 

The main post-Medieval fields of Preston Plucknett. The original large Medieval field called Preston Field, or North Field, lay to the north of Preston Road.

 

Map based on the 1849 Tithe Map showing Higher Preston Field (Parcel 58) at centre left.

 

This is a 1946 aerial photograph showing Hurdle Corner towards top left as a trapezoidal field to the immediate east of Houndstone army camp (at centre left). Nap Furlong (parcel 57) is the centre of the three fields abutting Houndstone army camp but by this time it was square, having absorbed Higher Preston Field (Parcel 58) to its east.

At centre right is the post-war Larkhill Lane pre-fabricated housing estate. At centre is the Preston Plucknett Flax Works.

 

The 1849 Tithe Map superimposed over the modern Ordnance Survey map.