Houses built by 1966 maps on part of the medieval open field system. The open field system around Shafton was still mostly intact in the 1597 when a map of the village was commissioned (Harrison & Watson 2006 [accessed 22/11/07]). There were five fields around the village called Lydgate, Eshbarrow, Townend, Nether and Heade Field. These were enclosed in a piecemeal fashion with some forming strips. There is fragmentary legibility of the former strip fields.