York Historic Environment Record

(SE 584 504 FCE) Probable Napoleonic ridge and furrow cultivation surviving as slight earthworks on Hob Moor. At least two large fields of low ridge and furrow survive as slight earthworks, covering almost the whole extent of the common land (some 30ha).

A Level 1 survey of Hob Moor was carried out in 2003 as part of English Heritage's Archaeology of Urban Commons Project.

Hob Moor, with the adjacent Knavesmire, is one of the two ancient commons of York and part of Micklegate Stray. To the east, adjacent to the former Hob Lane, stands Hob's Stone (SE 55 SE 14), which commemorates the alleged gift of the land to the poor by a knight named Hob, possibly a member of the Roos family. Although ploughed over in the Napoleonic period (see SE 55 SE 176), it remains essentially intact, and a number of adjoining areas which were not part of the ancient common are now widely regarded as being part of Hob Moor. Approximately 39ha in extent, the common is currently under rough pasture and used as public amenity land. A map of 1624 shows the southern part of the Moor, indicating that it was fringed by medieval strip fields (SE 55 SE 177 & 178) and that its extent at that date was almost identical to that of today. (2)

1 Field Investigators Comments English Heritage: Archaeology of Urban Commons Project
2 VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION Map of the Manor of Dringhouses by Samuel Parsons, surveyed 1624, published 1629, held in York City Reference Library

* W W M Nisbet, 1973, The Strays of York (Booklet). SYO2633.

NMR, 2019, NMR data (Digital archive). SYO2214.