Old field names?

Dry Rot

Member
Livestock Farmer
When my aunt died in her 90s, I think the old field names on the family farm were lost with her passing. All going into houses now, so lost for sure!

Do the fields on your farm have names and how far back do they go?
 

Lincs Lass

Member
Location
north lincs
We had a few ,,Rabbits playground (speaks for itself)Long green ,50yrds wide and 3/4mile long,,wood side ,home field,school field(used to be the village primary schools playground )Mill field ,not sure how that gots name as there wasn't a mill of any type near it
 

Bootneck

Member
Location
East Sussex
I bought my land from a city lawyer who held it as an investment and was not interested in its history etc, and had no idea about field names, so I named them all myself. Then a few years later found old tithe maps in the local records office dating from the early 1800’s that included field names, so now have learnt the old names. Some good ones. Onion field, Long clover field, Little clover field, calves field, struts field, mountain field, hollow field, and one called Steel Yard Shaw associated with early medieval ironworks.
At my dads farm we have a caravan field that last had a caravan in it 20 years ago!
And my farm is called Egypt House Farm, apparently the Egypt bit is from Gypsies who were called Egyptians when they first appeared in the country in the sixteenth century, and a group of them settled here long ago!
 

gatepost

Member
Location
Cotswolds
I have a North Slait the neighbours have South Slait, have been told it is Anglo Saxon for sheep grazing, which would explain why it's sheep sick, I think they are part of the old village open field system, next to that is Uncomb wood, which was the last bit of common ground belonging to the parish, just a rough bank, and next to that is Black bush piece which has ancient black thorns in it.
 

chaffcutter

Moderator
Arable Farmer
Location
S. Staffs
Ours are fairly common names found on many farms, but we have a ‘Hockey Meadow’ but there is no record or memory of it being played there!
 

Rowland

Member
Had a banky”o land bankey seed ! Golfies this that and t’ther as there was a golf course apparently there before the war . Bout all that land was good for wet cold heavy clay.
Castle , 20 acer castle which was only 18 acers . They’ve all probably gone now with end of my family been on that farm for several generations. Took a farm on but didn’t like the field names.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I’ve posted this before, but when I moved here I sat down with the outgoing tenant and a map, recording each field name so as to carry them on. I’ve always thought it a great shame when those old names disappear.
Sorry to say that most were quite unimaginative, but several are named after the old fella that used to have them many decades ago. Luncheon Field is where the estate’s shooting parties used to stop for lunch. Brick Field is self explanatory. Cricket Pitch Meadow is right next door to the hundred odd year old Cricket pitch in the middle of the farm. Decoy is next to a wood containing the remnants of 17th Century ‘finger pond’ for netting ducks. The most unimaginative have to be ‘Ten Acres’ and ‘Seventeen Acre Park’, the latter being the biggest Field on the farm by some margin.

Back home we had a ‘Lime Kiln’ and three fields aptly named No Gains 1, 2 & 3.
 

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
Ours are mainly named after people or features (eg Brown's, Pit Field etc) One neighbour has a California and the other neighbour has, what are probably my favourites, Stoney Furlong and Holme Park Nooking.
 

willy

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Rutland
I have a farm map from 1710 done by Burghley estates and 90% of field are the same size (not rpa style) and have the same name.

Yet I contract farm for a neighbour and in the last 20 years it has changed hand twice and the names are all wrong by small amounts I.e cold oaks was in fact cold oats. ( I know this as the guy who retired from me last year was born on the farm as his father was herds man and so
Know this. Just shows how small a accent and an agents pen can write something different.

If I take
A farm on I always try and keep original names and sometimes have to go back a generation to find them out.
 

Roy_H

Member
When my aunt died in her 90s, I think the old field names on the family farm were lost with her passing. All going into houses now, so lost for sure!

Do the fields on your farm have names and how far back do they go?
We had a 20 acre field that we used to call "Sand field" ( For obvious reasons) Now it could be called "Covered in concrete and steel" ( For obvious reasons):facepalm:
 

jondear

Member
Location
Devon
Roundmoor,Slatacre,plaister,Cleave,Greatwestern,5yrds,4acres that's 7 ,Townham, Well orchard. Morsplot ,Brickash,rapmeadow. just a few.
 
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Dry Rot

Member
Livestock Farmer
Great stuff! Keep 'em coming! I like the lot.

No names here when I moved in over 35 years ago, even though the outgoer was in her 90s. Don't even know where the name of the place comes from. A bit depressing really.:(
 

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