Subdivided strip fields were widespread over most of lowland England before enclosure. Where datable they seem to originate in the late Saxon period and their use survived into the 19th century in some places. In East Anglia and southeast England strips were usually ploughed flat, but in most of the Midlands they were cast up to form ‘ridge and furrow’. This ridging technique was once used in a central band stretching from County Durham in the north to Somerset in the southwest.