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Lynchet system near Bishopstone in WiltshireThe slope of a prehistoric lynchet at West Dean, West Sussex
A lynchet or linchet is an earth terrace found on the side of a hill. Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems of the British Isles. They are commonly found in vertical rows and more commonly referred to as "strip lynchets". Lynchets appear predominantly in Southern Britain and many are in areas close to Iron Age forts and other earthworks, including later Roman earthworks and earlier barrows from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. The size, location, spacing and number of rows of many strip lynchets indicates that many were man-made. It is most likely that lynchets were dug to maximise the use of land for agriculture, although they may have had other, ceremonial uses.
The word is the diminutive form of lynch, now rarely appearing in the English language, indicating an agricultural terrace; it is cognate with the golf links. However, both "lynchet" and "lynch" may also be used to refer to a strip of green land left between two pieces of ploughed land on non-sloping ground; or to a natural slope or terrace along the face of a chalk down.[1]
The traditional theory on the formation of lynchets is that they may form naturally on the downslope of a field ploughed over a long period of time.[2] The disturbed soil slips down the hillside to create a "positive lynchet" (where the new surface is higher than the original surface), while the area reduced in level becomes a "negative lynchet" (where the new surface is lower).
Lynchets above the village of Loders, Dorset
In Loders, Dorset, lynchets form a terraced band structure similar to an amphitheatre overlooking the village. Lynchets also form part of the conservation area of the neighbouring village of Uploders, where they apparently form old hillside field systems in close proximity to an Iron Age fort and hill-top barrows. 19th-century maps indicate that cider orchards were planted on some lynchets in that area.
^"lynchet, n.". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^"National Monuments Record Thesauri". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
A lynchet or linchet is an earth terrace found on the side of a hill. Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems of the British Isles. They are commonly...
earthworks is unclear. There is evidence of lynchet farming on the southeast side of the hill. The age of the lynchets is unknown but Roman pottery has been...
(Centaur Discs 1997), Mariner (Centaur Discs 1998) This Is Not the End (Lynchet Records 2006) and The War Poets (2018). He has also recorded CDs with Gracious...
households at Enford and a smaller settlement at Compton. Medieval strip lynchets are visible north of East Chisenbury. Enford manor was held by St Swithun's...
yd) implies that each was cultivated by a single person or household. Lynchets, evidence of early ploughing can often be seen at the upper and lower ends...
which has been studied on the site for over fifty years. The ancient strip lynchet field system is of archaeological interest. There is access by a footpath...
The Hill has a flowery bank on its western slope (TQ 286 091), a bushy lynchet and an old dewpond site on its brow. The Sussex Border Path takes you north...
incomers built planned settlements in the valleys surrounded by strip lynchets, with the downland left as sheep pasture. To the south is the city of Salisbury...
The sides of the Tor have seven deep, roughly symmetrical terraces, or lynchets. Their formation remains a mystery with many possible explanations. They...
by spade digging Lazy beds, cultivation ridges created by spade digging Lynchets, sloping terraces on steep hillsides, created by gravity on hillslopes...
of Manorbier, on the side of the road to Lydstep, is an area of strip lynchets dating to early Anglo Saxon times and perhaps as early as the Bronze Age...
north, to repel invasion from the north. There are ancient downhill strip lynchets in the large field opposite North Hill Cottage; and mildly sloping ones...
the name Lytchett is from the word lynchet or linchet, which is an earth terrace found on the side of a hill. Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems...
that at the Scord of Brouster field-system, with its enclosing walls, low lynchets and clearance heaps, suggests that it was part of a larger enclosed landscape...
remains of a lynchet, consisting of a steep 2-metre (6 ft 7 in) high scarp that runs parallel to the fort's defences. Two other lynchets have been identified...
and strong winds, but may also occur due to trampling by animals. lumber lynchet A type of agricultural terrace made from earth, or a strip of green, unploughed...
engaged in ploughing and making a living for themselves.": 47 Cultivation lynchet terraces and ridge-and-furrow fields of the Middle Ages are visible alongside...
western end of the hill: Its original name was Chalford Lynch. "Lynch" (lynchet in modern English) means a cultivated terrace following the contours of...
agriculture in the Pays de Herve region, which led to the occurrence of lynchets or cultivation terraces, by analogy to a common practice in current Ethiopia;...
arrived in the valley in the 7th or 8th century; evidence of their strip lynchets can still be seen on the surrounding hillsides. In 933 AD land was given...
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