Country diary: the first farmers did not go in for squared-off plots

Chew Valley, Somerset: these unruly fields are what we call ‘ancient countryside’ and its pattern may go back to neolithic timesWhen we first visited Folly Farm some 30 years ago this 250-acre plot was up for sale. Gates were hanging from their hinges, the hedges were rampant and the pastures were waist-deep in flowers; the 20th century did not appear to have happened yet, nor even the 19th. These unruly fields were carved from the land, not drawn by a ruler – the first farmers