Have you done your stint?

In Anglo-Saxon times, the land surrounding each village was held in common. There was a well-organised system of land usage. The land was carefully divided and allocated to villagers or 'commoners'. ​Hay was usually taken from the low-lying meadow land by rivers. A little higher up, another layer of land was used to grow crops and then grazed by livestock after harvest. The uplands were also be grazed. Commoners took turns to use the land or 'do their stint'.

The land in a productive field was carefully divided into strips so each family had an area to use to grow their own food These strips were used to grow crops such as rye and barley (for beer), and oxen were used to plough the strips or flat terraces cut into the hillside. The result of this was row upon row of 'lynchets'.

You can still see these medieval lynchets on the south facing slopes of many hills in the Dales. There are particularly good examples in Swaledale, Wensleydale and Wharfedale. I still find it incredible to think that these terraces from almost a thousand years ago can still be seen. They're been left largely undisturbed for centuries. Some of the lynchets were built up by piling stones cleared from the strips as they were cultivated. The flat strips are not wide, but were broad enough for oxen to plough. You may also spot some ridges and furrow, long ridges separated by ditches and used for arable farming.