The landscape of medieval England was the product of a multitude of hands. While the power to shape the landscape inevitably lay with the Crown, the nobility and the religious houses, this study also highlights the contribution of the peasantry in the layout of rural settlements and ridge-and-furrow field works, and the funding of parish churches by ordinary townsfolk. The importance of population trends is emphasised as a major factor in shaping the medieval landscape: the rising curve of the eleventh to thirteenth centuries imposing growing pressures on resources, and the devastating impact of the Black Death leading to radical decline in the fourteenth century. Opening with a broad-ranging analysis of political and economic trends in medieval England, the book progresses thematically to assess the impact of farming, rural settlement, towns, the Church, and fortification using many original case studies. The concluding chapter charts the end of the medieval landscape with the dissolution of the monasteries, the replacement of castles by country houses, the ongoing enclosure of fields, and the growth of towns.
Graeme J. White is Emeritus Professor of Local History at the University of Chester, UK.His research interests include the reigns of King Stephen and King Henry II, and rural settlement and field systems. His publications include Restoration and Reform 1153-1165. He is also Editor of the journal, Cheshire History, and President of the Chester Society for Landscape History.
Notes on Measurements and other Conventions \ Abbreviations \ 1. Continuity and Change in the Medieval English Landscape \ 2. The Landscape of Farming and Hunting \ 3. The Landscape of Rural Settlement \ 4. The Landscape of Towns and Trade \ 5. The Landscape of Religion \ 6. The Landscape of Fortification \ 7. The End of the Medieval English Landscape? \ Bibliography \ Index
Through skilful use of historical documents and context, Graeme White brings together the people and monuments of medieval England. Through this 500 year period of dramatic social, religious, political and military change, the narrative allows the reader to understand impact of new philosophies and pragmatic responses to circumstance on the physical fabric of the landscape of the day. This book is essential reading for historians and archaeologists alike.