Yeovil's Virtual Museum

The Field

Once part of the great Medieval field called Northover

 

'The Field' was once part of the great Medieval field called Northover (see first map below). Northover itself was later broken up and part of it became a large common field called Hewish, or Hewish Field, stretching from Ram Park in the north, the boundary with the parish of Preston Plucknett in the west, today's West Hendford in the south and roughly as far as today's Clarence Street in the east. The parcels comprising the former great common field called Hewish Field are shown shaded green in the 1842 Tithe Map below.

The name Huish, in its various spellings through time, derives from the Old English 'hiwisc' meaning a household.

On 1 July 1415 Thomas, Earl of Arundel, granted the advowson of Yeovil Rectory to Henry V with "two acres in the field called Huysh".

It was recorded that in 1611 St Leonard's Fair for rother cattle was held in "the field called Huishe in Hendford" - in this instance Hendford being the Manor of Hendford, not the road of that name. As a sidenote; the word 'rother' is an old Anglo-Saxon word for cattle. The rother cattle were long-horned, fleshy beasts prized for their meat, milk, hide and horn (see photo here).

An indenture of 1715 remarks on six acres of arable land "lying in a common field called Hewish in the tything of Hinford.... lately enclosed" - the words 'lately enclosed' being a good indication of when this common field began to be parcelled up.

By the 1750s the division parcels of Hewish Field were more or less finalised as shown in the 1842 Tithe Map below. 'The Field' was the largest area of the original common field and in Watts' map of 1806 it is labelled as "Mr Goodford's Field" - Mr Goodford being Yeovil attorney Henry Goodford. By the time of the 1846 Tithe Apportionment Goodford had sold The Field (Parcel 301) and the adjoining cottage, garden and orchard (Parcel 300) - now the site of Telford House on the corner of The Park and Clarence Street - to banker and fellow Yeovil solicitor William Lambert White. The Apportionment noted that White was owner and occupier of the two parcels; The Field was listed as pasture and measuring 7a 1r 3p while the cottage, garden and orchard measured 0a 2r 6p.

By the 1880s The Field had been split into three separate fields and a tennis court was built in the northeast corner of the northern third. By 1901 the top two fields had been further divided as seen on the Ordnance Survey map below.

The fields were owned by Brutton's Brewery at this time but they sold the land to Yeovil & Petters United Football Club who built a new stadium and football ground on what had been southern two-thirds of The Field. The first game was played at the new ground on Saturday 28 August 1920. The northern third became the location of Park Gardens by 1927.

Today, now that the football club has transferred its ground, the former 'The Field' is now the site of Tesco's supermarket.

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

 

This map, based on the descriptions in the 1589 Terrier and the 1846 Tithe Map of Yeovil shows the approximate boundaries of the Manors of Kingston and Hendford as well as the manorial three-field system used in Kingston.

 

Part of Watts' map of 1806 showing The Field at centre labelled "Mr Goodford's" as, indeed, were the two parcels to its east that bounded the eastern side of what would become today's Clarence Street. Just off the bottom right of The Field the small red building - the only one in Huish at the time, was "formerly a Barn Flax Shop and drying house but long since converted into a Public House called or known by the name or sign of the Chequers".

 

This map is based on the 1842 Tithe Map with field names added from the 1846 Tithe Award. The area shaded light green was originally a large common field called Hewish Field that had been formed out of the earlier Medieval field called Northover. By the time of the 1842 Tithe Map, shown here, Hewish Field had been further sub-divided into many parcels as shown.

'The Field' is at centre right.

 

Map based on the 1901 Ordnance Survey showing The Field now split into five separate units. At this time all five fields were owned by Brutton's Brewery.

 

A map based on the 1927 Ordnance Survey showing the new football ground and Park Gardens to its north - both built on the site of the former 'The Field'.

 

The 1842 Tithe Map superimposed (roughly) over a modern street map showing where several modern roads, for example the rear gardens of the eastern side of Grove Avenue, follow former field boundaries.  

 

 

The 1946 aerial photograph shows The Park in the top right quadrant with Clarence Street running down the right side to meet Huish which runs along the bottom of the photograph and Queen Street left of centre. The area of former 'The Field' is covered by the football ground, Park Gardens to its north and the allotments and storage area to the right of the football ground.

 

An aerial photograph, looking south, of about 1980 showing the famous sloping ground of Yeovil Town Football Club in Huish. Huish itself runs across the top of the photograph which shows, from left to right, Felix Place car park, the Crown Inn, the Corporation Swimming Pool and Waterloo flats. The area of The Field included the football ground, Park Gardens at the bottom of the photograph and the car park in the top left quadrant.

 

This aerial photograph shows the complete length of the original Huish running across the centre of the picture. At extreme left Grove Avenue runs off in the top left corner while at centre is Queensway with its infamous 'quarter mile' Huish footbridge. Centre right is dominated by the Tesco store and its car park with the old line of Huish, now called Queensway Place running across in front of Tesco as far as Clarence Street at the eastern edge of Tesco's car park. At top right is the hospital and the Queensway / Kingston / Reckleford roundabout. The Field covered the area seen right of centre, covered by Tesco's store and car park and Park Gardens above it.