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Prarie

January 2024

The first map to show the "prarie" field was the 1841 tithe map. It is labelled as "Stack" suggesting that was where hay and straw were stored. That makes sense, as the Dutch Barn was errected next to it in the 1860s.

Tithe map 1841

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Tithe map 1841
Tithe award for Rudchester Township (Anon 1841) with the prarie shaded green. Available from : Northumberland County Archives - DT 403S.

SINE Aerial Photograph 1950s

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SINE Aerial Photograph 1950s
The "Stack" field or "prarie" is at the bottom right of the picture, next to the new-looking Dutch Barn

Current aerial view

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Current aerial view
The prarie is now grassed and grazed by a dozen or so sheep. It is fenced on all sides, and has a tumbled down dry stone wall across the top (North) and left (West) side, which is no longer functional.

The prarie was used as a dumping area for unwanted plants, soil, farming and building materials. It was over-grown with nettles and shrubs, with plastic, metal and concrete waste making it difficult to walk over let alone mow or graze.

Prarie Looking East

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Prarie Looking East
This shows the scrub with the Granary, Barn and Stable Cottage in the background.

Prarie looking North

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Prarie looking North
This shows the main rubbish area with the Dutch Barn in teh background

Prarie looking West

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Prarie looking West
This shows the concrete area outside the Granary (previously the floor of a lean-to barn) in the foreground with waste wood behind

The prarie was cleared and levelled in February 2013, and that summer, Northern Powergrid decided to fell the large trees near the power lines. We ended up with a great deal of fire wood, which we are still using.

Prarie looking North-West

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Prarie looking North-West
The rubbish and concrete slabs were collected and removed in a skip

Prarie looking West

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Prarie looking West
This shows how much soil we had to move to level the site

Prarie looking East

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Prarie looking East
It was sad to see some of the old trees go, but they had grown too big and too close to the electricity cables for safety, and their wood has been put to good use over the yesrs.

We sowed grass which grew very quickly and has been kept in check by the sheep. A trench was dug across the Prarie and the Fort in September 2022 for a new water supply to Rudchester - the grass has recovered.

Prarie looking West

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Prarie looking West
This shows the grass with the Dutch Barn, Granary and Barn behind.

Prarie looking North-West

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Prarie looking North-West
This shows the grass with the Dutch Barn behind.

Trench across Prarie 2022

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Trench across Prarie 2022
This shows the trench across the prarie with the manhole in the foreground where the pipes turn East towards the buildings