Yeovil's Virtual Museum

Three Acre Mead

A part of Preston Lower farm

 

Three Acre Mead (Parcel 145) was a small rectangular field of Preston Lower Farm. The word 'mead' comes from the Old English 'maed'. Before grass seeds were obtainable this was the only hay land of the community. It usually consisted of land near streams since that was the only kind of land on which hay grew in any quantity, and Three Acre Mead lay between the junction of three brooks.

The 1848 Preston Tithe Apportionment described Three Acre Mead as meadow owned by Robert Tucker and occupied by Joseph Roberts. It measured 2a 2r 10p. All eight fields of Lower Farm whose names suggested an acreage such as Three Acre Mead, Four Acres, etc., were actually less than their names would suggest. However this is due to the use of 'Statute' measurements in the Apportionment which were actually smaller that 'Customary' measurements.

Three Acre Mead was bounded on the west by Five Acre Mead (Parcel 144), on the south it was bounded by the combined brooks, on the east by Plantation 1 (Parcel 145a) and to the north by Pookhay Mill (Parcel 143) and Little Bucks Mead (Parcel 146).

For details on historic land measurement (ie acres, roods and perches) click here.

 

 

The 1849 Preston Tithe Map. Three Acre Mead is towards bottom right.

 

The 1849 Preston Tithe Map overlaid on a modern map (slightly mis-aligned at bottom right).

 

The 1889 Ordnance Survey shows the extensive fields of Lower Farm labelled 'Preston Grove' stretching eastwards. The dotted line across the fields, indicating a footpath, was the line of the later road, also called Preston Grove. By this time that part of Five Acre Mead to the east of the Old Mill Leat had been combined with Three Acre Mead to form the larger field seen here at bottom right below the words 'The Lodge'.