Parker's Field, North Petherton

Parker’s field in North Petherton is one of the local recreation grounds, home to the local football team and in the summer months the local softball team. Throughout the year you will see a steady stream of dog walkers, joggers and families enjoying the open space.

But it hasn’t always been a place for recreation. On the Tithe maps from the 1840’s the entry for this area is registered as:

“Field 307+309 in North Petherton parish (Name='Lower Ward Leaze' Cultivation='Meadow' Owner='Slade, Sir John Bart' Occupier='Rogers, Richard' Acreage='4a 0r 23p' Rentcharge='£0/5/0' Impropriator rentcharge='£0/0/8' Impropriator='Slade, Sir John Baronet' )"

Now … from here on, the temptation is to get very excited … BUT … we have to remember that LiDAR can and does throw up fake anomalies, it could be an old field boundary or a type of drainage ditch.

With that firmly at the front of our minds:

Below are a number of pictures, the first 3 are LiDAR images of Parkers field, one is a recent drone image and the last the Tithe map: 

Back to the tithe map and the name of the field in the 1840’s, 'Lower Ward Leaze'. Using the popular website https://www.etymonline.com/ the word “ward” gives us:

ward(n.)

Middle English ward "keeping, care, safekeeping," also "control, rule, proper preservation," from Old English weard "a guarding, protection; watchman, sentry, keeper," from Proto-Germanic *wardaz "guard" (source also of Old Saxon ward, Old Norse vörðr, Old High German wart), from suffixed form of PIE root *wer- (3) "perceive, watch out for." A doublet of guard (n.); for the consonant see gu-. Paired with watch (n.) from late 14c. Related: Wardship.

With the backing and permission of the North Petherton Town Council, during the weekend 26th and 27th July, our friends at GeoFlo will be geophysing the area and then we will know what we are looking at and if it is just a few lumps in the ground that are nothing of great interest … or if it is “something”.