VALLEY OF PYDEL AND BUCKLAND NEWTON. xlix. 



Mr. DICKER, pointing to one of the three old commonfields 

 in the parish of Pydeltrenthide, said that the English brought 

 with them from the Rhine and the Elbe the system of 

 Commonfields. The land was divided between the villeins 

 in the various degrees, and it was cultivated by them on a co- 

 operative system, called the " Commonfield " system. Every 

 man had so many acres allotted to him according to his position 

 and social rank as a serf, a boarder, or a villein, the last having 

 at times 30 or more acres. No man had his acres together, and 

 a man who had 30 acres had them scattered all over the locality. 

 The system entered into English life and was continued as far 

 down as the beginning of the last century. An acre generally 

 consisted of a strip of land four rods wide and 40 long, the rod 

 being the pole which the ploughman used to use for " stimu- 

 lating" his oxen, and measuring about i6ft. long. He had 

 located one of these commonfields near the church, and had 

 found it mentioned as such on an ancient map. In England 

 they had so few evidences of the old Commonfield system that 

 those relics of it in the parish were of deep interest. 



The party then proceeded to 



PYDELTRENTHIDE CHURCH. 



Here the VICAR said that he did not propose to spend much 

 time in speaking of the points of that church, as he had already 

 dealt with it in detail in a paper which was to be published in the 

 next volume of the " Proceedings" of their Club. (See 

 pp. i -i i of the present volume.} 



REMOTE HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT. 



But he had been asked to say a few words about the more 

 ancient aspects of the parish of Pydeltrenthide, because, after 

 all, they were the more interesting, and, indeed, almost unique. 

 At Pydelhinton he ventured to call their attention to those 

 rectangular enclosures in the valley a great feature of the 



