Mediaeval village

The social history of Laxton, a village in England in which the medieval open-field system is still used, is traced from monuments and documents. The first map of Laxton, made in 1630, shows the village and the church, and the three open fields divided into strips. Village life as it exists today, with its small individual farmsteads and strip cultivation with crop rotation, is shown to be almost identical with the system displayed on the 1630 map. The second half of the film shows the survival from feudal times of the Manorial Court, or Court Leet. The jury makes the round of the wheat-bearing field, replaces boundary pegs, and imposes fines for encroachment. The Pinder rounds up stray cattle and drives them into the pound. Suitable for upper primary and lower secondary levels.