On the ridge and on the margin of the parish, the wood was conveniently placed so that heavy loads of timber were brought down the gentle slope to supply the rest of the parish. Also, it lay beyond the fields where the daily labour of ploughing, weeding and harvest required frequent attendance from the houses of the town. Going for wood was an important job; part of the initial endowment of Bourne Abbey was "two big faggots, such as might be carried on the back, of the larger branches, to be taken every day out of Bourne Wood without interference". Fetching timber was important but done less frequently than sod-breaking, crow scaring, weeding, ploughing, harrowing, sowing, reaping, stooking, straw-carting and pasturing in the stubble of the arable fields.