Agri-Culture

Chapter 1

Landscapes Lost and Found

This Common Heritage

In a bend of the river stands an ancient, open meadow. These 30 hectares of the Fen, as it is known hereabouts, are a relic. For 600 years, the flint church tower has gazed through village trees upon an ever-changing agricultural landscape. This common, though, has survived intact. It is parcelled into 180 ‘fennages’, or rights to graze cattle, and so is in common ownership. When the harsh easterly winds drive down from Scandinavia, the grass crunches underfoot, and the pasture hollows are thick with ice. On a summer's day, you walk the same route past carpets of yellow buttercups, or divert ...