Preston common fields

The township of Preston lay north and south of the village, but mostly west of a north-south line through the village itself. It is now almost entirely built over, or used for Tynemouth cemetery, playing fields, etc. Ridge and furrow, however, is known to have existed, either on aerial photographs or, until very recently, as actual earthworks, in 2 fields west of Preston North Road and on both sides of Beach Road. These were part of Mrs. Fielding's holding in 1757, and part of Preston Farm in 1842. The two fields were divided by 2 fences/hedges of different periods and slightly different alignments. They appear to cut a single block of ridge and furrow (19+ furrows), which tended to run roughly north-south, curving slightly west at the north end. The width of the ridges varied from 6 to 7.5 metres; a few appeared to be double-crested, thus producing some of only half the width.