2020Vision : Connecting with the contemporary

Andrew Hobbs During the first months of the pandemic, we only walked from our house, not using our cars to travel any distance. Very quickly I began to compare this experience to those who lived in the area in previous centuries when most people had no other transport. We are very fortunate to live in a rural area that has changed very little for centuries with very little new building and most of that being part of existing farmsteads. The area is called Roughbirchworth and today is part of the parish of Oxspring in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley. It is an ancient agricultural area, mentioned in the Domesday Book, that has remained a collection of a small number of farmsteads. The village and amenities are in Oxspring in the valley.

Walking daily across the fields provided the opportunity to look carefully at the landscape and its defining characteristics, which I photographed almost every day. I also began to research the history and to reflect on the lives of those who have lived and worked in the area to develop its characteristics. The 1893 OS Map of the area clearly identifies some of the main features of the landscape, especially the pathways and the boundaries of the fields, that maintain to this day the outline of the medieval strip system of farming. The names of various features and routes also have historic relationships to activities or places. For example, there was an iron age fort (marked on the OS Map as a ‘Camp’,) that later became the site of a Roman Fort and the origins of the name ‘Castle’ to be found in the area. Some of the farmsteads and farm buildings are now converted to housing, but retain the ancient names and characteristics.

Farming practices have changed but the types of farming continues to be a mixture of dairy, sheep and arable.

The images selected, of the many taken during 2020, are intended to present an introduction to the main characteristics of the area of Roughbirchworth and the history that remains visible today. All but two of the images are in monochrome to reflect the historic origins of the subject. The two exceptions are the first and final main photographs that show the landscape from different viewpoints and in different seasons.