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Description

Reasons for Designation Dylings are medieval fields on the siltlands of the Fens and comprise blocks of strips of cultivated land which were often bordered by droves and dykes. These strips were separated by ditches and were broader than those of the `ridge and furrow' system which is more typical of the uplands. They also differed in that they were ploughed flat, rather than ridged. Very few examples of this distinctive regional pattern of cultivation are known to survive as earthworks in the Fens and all good examples which do survive as earthworks will merit protection. The field system 250m north of Church End Farm is one of the best preserved in the Fens. The monument contains archaeological information concerning medieval farming practice, and evidence relating to this and to the local environment during the same period will be contained in deposits in the ditches and below the surface of the field strips. Details The monument includes part of a field system of medieval date, known as a dyling, located on siltland and visible as earthworks under pasture. The site lies 220m north of Quadring parish church and was formerly within that parish, although now the parish boundary runs along the southern edge of the monument. The system comprises three separate but adjoining sets of parallel field strips, aligned at right angles to an old water channel between 7m and 10m wide, which follows a slightly meandering course east-west across the northern half of the monument, then turns south along its western edge. Ditches, which have become partly infilled, but which are visible as linear hollows approximately 3m wide and 0.75m to 1m deep, separate the strips, which range in width from 5m to 34m and are variously rounded, flattened or very slightly dished in profile. Two sets of strips, with a maximum length of 98m and 130m respectively, run north and south from the east-west leg of the old water channel, and the third set, to the south of these and now separated from them by a hedge, runs eastwards from the southern leg of the water channel for a maximum distance of 175m. Each set terminates on a line between 3m and 8m short of a present field boundary. All fences and gates within the area of the scheduling the modern dyke which crosses it, and a water trough in the north western corner of the site, are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.

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