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Fields, Routes & Borders
The area of the present day parish of Great Bowden is, as it has always been, dominated by agriculture, with both arable and pasture fields. This is now criss-crossed by roads, footpaths and bridleways and of course the Midland Main Line railway. The parish is now considerably smaller than it was in medieval times having lost most of its southern area to Market Harborough and the area of the occupied village is considerably larger than in the past.
Our Work
Members of the Heritage Group have over the years written articles, translated documents and studied the parish from its earliest beginnings. You can download our articles below.
Free Downloads
Click the title to download a free PDF article
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Survey of the Fields of Great Bowden with Ridge & Furrow and other earth works. This survey also contains past and present field names. The document was originally produced for the village Neighbourhood Plan in 2016 and has been updated in 2022.​
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Ridge & Furrow & the Open Field: Our medieval ancestors farmed huge open fields. Now, thanks to modern technology, we can see and survey the surviving ridges and furrows they left behind.
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14th Century Celebrities: Exciting times! Murder and mayhem in the royal family led to Geoffrey le Scrope taking over the manor of Great Bowden in 1336.
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West Field Furlongs (to follow soon)
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Roads over the Hill: Why are our main roads where they are? Tracks to windmills and avoiding turnpikes must have played a big part.
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Ramblings on the Market Road: Chartered in 1204, Market Harborough market was the hub for trade. We try to trace a medieval (and possibly much earlier) road leading to it.
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The Sinuous Bank: A medieval mystery one and a half miles long and twenty feet wide!
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1776 The Enclosure Award: See how in 1776 the medieval open fields of Great Bowden were divided up and enclosed and rights of way established.
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Owners of Buckminster Close: Trace an unbroken history of Buckminster Close/Fernie paddock from 1673, and discover the only casualty of the 1941 bomb
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The Old Oak on the Rec: 500 years old and still going strong. Discover what we know about the oldest living thing in the parish.
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The Greens of Great Bowden:They are protected now, but what has been lost, and how did medieval tenant farmers use them?
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Hedges - a Branch of Landscape Archaeology: How do you estimate the age of a hedge? Most date from after the enclosure of 1776, but some of our hedgerows were possibly established well before the Norman conquest.
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The Ridgeway to Gartree Road 2005. Possible Roman cart road: updated 2019.
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Great Bowden Parish Boundary Project: exploring the parish boundary.
Furlong and Furrow
Our small book, Furlong and Furrow, contains a translation from the Latin of a 14th century survey of the open fields of Great Bowden. With a glossary of field and furlong names and a forward by TV historian Michael Wood.
We have now sold out of the printed version and an adapted version can be downloaded here:
Furlong & Furrow: The Booklet.
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