This area of land was probably the open field associated with the medieval village of Stanfield. This village was depopulated by Sir Thomas Wortley in 1510 when he extended his hunting chase (Hey 1986, 123). The drainage ditches retained the shape of the Medieval strips which were later enclosed when the boundaries of the chase contracted. The land within the wider boundaries of the chase was probably reused for agriculture and settlement by the mid 17th century but the exact date of this is uncertain. There has been a lot of boundary loss since 1989 but the reverse 's' shape remains in the boundaries and in the shape of footpaths crossing these fields so legibility of the Medieval fields is significant.