Beyond the Medieval Village The Diversification of Landscape Character in Southern Britain

by Rippon, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780199203826
• ISBN10: 0199203822
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-01-29
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The varied character of Britain's countryside and towns provides communities with a strong sense of local identity. One of the most significant features of the southern British landscape is the way that its character differs from region to region, with compact villages in the Midlands contrasting with the sprawling hamlets of East Anglia and isolated farmsteads of Devon. Even more remarkable is the very "English" feel of the landscape in southern Pembrokeshire, in the far south west of Wales. Hoskins described the English landscape as "the richest historical record we possess," and in this book Stephen Rippon explores the origins of regional variations in landscape character, arguing that while some landscapes date back to the centuries either side of the Norman Conquest, other areas across southern Britain underwent a profound change around the 8th century AD.

Author Biography

Dr Stephen Rippon studied archaeology at the University of Reading, where he was awarded his PhD on 'Landscape Evolution and Wetland Reclamation Around the Severn Estuary'. He went on to become a British Academy Research Fellow, and then a lecturer in archaeology (now Reader in Landscape Archaeology) at the University of Exeter. His research interests include the transformation of wetland landscapes through reclamation in the Roman and medieval period, and the origins and development of regional variation in landscape character.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. viii
List of Tables	p. xi
Introduction: Beyond Villages and Common Fields	p. 1
At the Margins of the Champion Countryside: The Emergence of Villages and Common Fields in Somerset	p. 32
Abbots, Bishops, Thegns, or Communities: Who was Responsible for Somerset's Champion Countryside?	p. 61
Across the Watershed: The Development of Landscapes Characterized by Dispersed Settlement in the South-West	p. 106
Champion and Woodland? Landscape Evolution beyond the Central Zone in Greater East Anglia	p. 138
Marching On? The Development of Villages and Common Fields in South Wales	p. 201
Discussion and Conclusions	p. 250
References	p. 269
Index	p. 313
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