English: View of Chelmorton Townend Showing the parallel fields of un-enclosed land.

The landscape around Chelmorton is of historic importance in that evidence of medieval pre enclosure or strip farming has been preserved. Cultivation took place in usually huge open fields surrounding a village and each villager owned a number of strips in each field. This open field system meant that every operation must be conducted in common by all villagers, and no one could produce crops at a different time or that which required different treatment from its neighbours.

Changes in agricultural practices from the 16th century onwards led to the disappearance of the open system and increased prosperity changed the mediaeval village beyond recognition. Except at Chelmorton, where the land was considered of such a poor quality, that enclosure was not considered worthwhile and so the field pattern has remained untouched.