A lynchet is a bank of earth that builds up on the downslope of a field ploughed over a long period of time. The disturbed soil slips down the hillside to create a lynchet. They are also referred to as ‘strip lynchets’ or in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland as ‘lazybeds’.

Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems. Some people believe that they were passively formed under the long-term action of gravity and weathering (soil creep) on the loosened soil of a ploughed slope, while others believe they may have been intentionally formed, to prevent erosion and slippage of the ploughed slope. In Scotland they were used to grow potatoes and other subsistence crops.

Mike The Mooching Minister.

May 31, 2024

A lynchet or linchet is an earth terrace found on the side of a hill. Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems of the British Isles. They are commonly found in vertical rows and more commonly referred to as "strip lynchets". Lynchets appear predominantly in Southern Britain and many are in areas close to Iron Age forts and other earthworks, including later Roman earthworks and earlier barrows from the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. The size, location, spacing and number of rows of many strip lynchets indicates that many were man-made. It is most likely that lynchets were dug to maximise the use of land for agriculture, although they may have had other, ceremonial uses.

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Elevation 90 m

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Location: Worth Matravers, Purbeck, Dorset, South West England, England, United Kingdom

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