| The structure of the village reflects its
history of farming in the Open Fields. Rather than the more familiar
scene of a farm house set among its fields, Laxton has the dwellings
clustered at its heart with the fields surrounding the village. In
mediaeval times farmers had to walk to their strips and so the dwellings
needed to be equally close to them all. Where
the size of the Open Fields has been reduced over the years by partial
enclosure, new farms
have been created on the outskirts of the parish and they adopt the
more familiar pattern with fields in a ring fence around them. One such is Brockilow Farm to the south of Laxton
beside the road to Kneesall.
Many of the farm houses were built on a corner stone
and have no foundations. Some of the walls show the green skerry stone
of the local area forming their lower parts with brick additions higher
up.
Most of the houses have pantile roofs, but slate is
also seen on properties which, historically, would have been more
important. The older houses and barns typically stand end on to the
road, a good example being the village shop which is still in a room of
a house. The original secondary school is now in use as the Village
Hall.
Being an arable farming area, each farm would have had
its threshing barn. These can be recognised by the ventilation holes and
the large barn doors on opposite sides, lifted above the ground to
create a draft when threshing. |
