Editing Open-field system (section)

==Description==
[[File:Medieval Ridge and Furrow above Wood Stanway - geograph.org.uk - 640050.jpg|thumb|left|300px|The method of ploughing the fields created a distinctive [[ridge and furrow]] pattern in open-field agriculture, seen here at [[Stanway, Gloucestershire|Wood Stanway]], [[Gloucestershire]]. The outlines of the medieval strips of cultivation, called selions, are still clearly visible in these now enclosed fields.]]
The most visible characteristic of the open-field system was that the arable land belonging to a manor was divided into many long narrow [[furlong]]s for cultivation. The fields of cultivated land were unfenced, hence the name ''open''-field system. Each tenant of the manor cultivated several strips of land scattered around the manor.

The village of [[Elton, Cambridgeshire]], is representative of a medieval open-field manor in England. The manor, whose Lord was an abbot from a nearby monastery, had 13 "[[hide (unit)|hide]]s" of arable land of six [[virgate]]s each. The acreage of a hide and virgate varied; but at Elton, a hide was {{convert|144|acre}} and a virgate was {{convert|24|acre|0}}. Thus, the total of arable land amounted to {{convert|1872|acre}}. The abbot's demesne land consisted of three hides plus {{convert|16|acre}} of meadow and {{convert|3|acre|0}} of pasture. The remainder of the land was cultivated by 113 tenants who lived in a village on the manor. Counting spouses, children, and other dependents, plus landless people, the total population resident in the manor village was probably 500 to 600.<ref>Gies, Frances and Joseph ''Life in a Medieval Village'' New York: Harper and Row, 1990, pp 31, 42</ref>

The abbot also owned two [[water mill]]s for grinding grain, a [[Fulling#Fulling mills|fulling mill]] for finishing cloth, and a [[millpond]] on the manor. The village contained a church, a manor house, a [[village green]], and the sub-manor of [[John of Elton]], a rich farmer who cultivated one hide of land and had tenants of his own. The tenants' houses lined a road rather than being grouped in a cluster. Some of the village houses were fairly large, {{convert|50|ft}} long by {{convert|14|ft}} wide. Others were only {{convert|20|ft|0}} long and {{convert|10|ft|0}} wide. All were insubstantial and required frequent reconstruction. Most of the tenants' houses had outbuildings and an animal pen with a larger area, called a [[croft (land)|croft]], of about one-half acre (0.2 ha), enclosed for a garden and grazing for animals.<ref>Gies, pp. 34–36</ref>

The tenants on the manor did not have equal holdings of land. About one-half of adults living on a manor had no land at all and had to work for larger landholders for their livelihood. A survey of 104 13th-century manors in England found that, among the landholding tenants, 45 percent had less than {{convert|3|acre|0}}. To survive, they also had to work for larger landowners. 22 percent of tenants had a virgate of land (which varied in size between {{convert|24|acre|0}} and {{convert|32|acre}} and 31 percent had one-half virgate.<ref>McCloskey, Donald N. "The open fields of England: rent, risk, and the rate of interest, 1300–1815" in ''Markets in History: Economic Studies of the Past'', ed. David W. Galenson, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989, pp 6–7</ref> To rely on the land for a livelihood a tenant family needed at least {{convert|10|acre|0}}.

The land of a typical manor in England and other countries was subdivided into two or three large fields. Non-arable land was allocated to common pasture land or ''waste'', where the villagers would graze their livestock throughout the year, woodland for pigs and timber, and also some private fenced land (paddocks, orchards and gardens), called ''closes''. The ploughed fields and the meadows were used for livestock grazing when [[fallow]]ed or after the grain was harvested.

One of the two or three fields was fallowed each year to recover soil fertility. The fields were divided into parcels called furlongs. The furlong was further subdivided into long, thin strips of land called selions or ridges. Selions were distributed among the farmers of the village, the manor, and the church. A family might possess about 70 selions totalling about {{convert|20|acre|0}} scattered around the fields. The scattered nature of family holdings ensured that families each received a ration of both good and poor land and minimised risk. If some selions were unproductive, others might be productive. Ploughing techniques created a landscape of ridge and furrow, with furrows between ridges dividing holdings and aiding drainage.

The right of pasture on fallowed fields, land unsuitable for cultivation, and harvested fields was held in common with rules to prevent [[overgrazing]] enforced by the community.<ref>"Medieval fields in their many forms" ''British Archaeology'' Issue no. 33, April 1998; Ault, W. O. "Open-Field Farming in Medieval England" London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1972, pp. 15–16</ref>