Explores the rediscovery of Rendlesham, revealing its role in early East Anglian power.Lost for centuries, the site of the East Anglian royal settlement at Rendlesham is now giving up its secrets. Noted by the Venerable Bede as a place of royal baptism in the seventh century CE, its location has been pin-pointed and its archaeology investigated. The settlement flourished from the early fifth century CE, but was at its peak between the late sixth and early eighth ce...

There is currently much concern about our trees and woodlands. The terrible toll taken by Dutch elm disease has been followed by a string of further epidemics, most worryingly ash chalara – and there are more threats on the horizon. There is also a widely shared belief that our woods have been steadily disappearing over recent decades, either replanted with alien conifers or destroyed entirely in order to make way for farmland or development. Trees in England will be essential rea...

Dividing the county of Hertfordshire into four broad regions—the "champion" countryside in the north, the Chiltern dip slope to the west, the fertile boulder clays of the east, and the unwelcoming London Clay in the south—this volume explains how, in the course of the middle ages, natural characteristics influenced the development of land use and settlement to create a range of distinctive landscapes. The great diversity of Hertfordshire's landscapes makes it a particularly rewarding area ...

Uncover the Hidden History of England's Ancient WoodlandsDelve into the fascinating world of England's ancient woodlands with this groundbreaking study of Norfolk's woods. Gerry Barnes and Tom Williamson challenge conventional assumptions about these long-established semi-natural woods, revealing their surprising history and dynamic nature.Discover how human activity, from medieval management practices to modern conservation efforts, has shaped these landsc...

Ancient Trees in the Landscape is the outcome of many years research into the history of trees in Norfolk, and represents the first detailed, published account of the ancient and traditionally managed trees of any English county. Yet it is far more than a regional survey. It is an exploration of how trees can be studied as part of the landscape. It discusses how accurately trees can be dated; explains why old trees are found in certain contexts and not in others; discusses traditional mana...

Explores the history, ecology, and physical features of English commons, focusing on Norfolk’s landscapes.Commons are an important part of the English landscape. Survivors from a once more extensive network otherwise eroded by the inexorable progress of enclosure, they provide a taste of wildness, crucial habitats for wildlife and valued spaces for recreation. To many people they seem to offer a tangible link with happier, more egalitarian times, when communities c...

Oxbow says: For many years hedges have been the most common field boundary in rural Britain, providing a stock-proof barrier, a field boundary and a haven for wildlife. Despite this, they are rarely studied in any detail in landscape archaeology. The authors of Hedgerow History rightly argue that hedges, as an essential feature of the landscape, their origins and development, are as worthy of study as any other part of the landscape. Their book focuses on the species content and diversity ...

Old orchards have an irresistible appeal. Their ancient trees and obscure fruit varieties seem to provide a direct link with the lost rural world of our ancestors, a time when the pace of life was slower and people had a strong and intimate connection with their local environment. They are also of critical importance for sustaining biodiversity, providing habitats, in particular, for a range of rare invertebrates. Not surprisingly, orchards and the fruit they contain have attracted an incr...

This book is about the map of an English county – Hertfordshire – which was published in 1766 by two London mapmakers, Andrew Dury and John Andrews.For well over two centuries, from the time of Elizabeth I to the late 18th century, the county was the basic unit for mapping in Britain and the period witnessed several episodes of comprehensive map making. The map which forms the subject of this book followed on from a large number of previous maps of the county but was greatly superio...

As a teenager, were you ever the NEW KID on the block? Even the thought of that situation starts to generate feelings of insecurity and cause anxieties to flood in.Take that circumstance, add a number of other teenage issues and you have the backdrop for Jake Kelley, Hoosier Point Guard the compelling, exciting, heart-warming story of a teenager who finds himself facing a number of "coming-of-age" issues that are so familiar to all of us as we navigate that unique period of our liv...

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2014While few detailed surveys of fauna or flora exist in England from the period before the nineteenth century, it is possible to combine the evidence of historical sources (ranging from game books, diaries, churchwardens' accounts and even folk songs) and our wider knowledge of past land use and landscape, with contemporary analyses made by modern natural scientists, in order to model the situation at various times and places in ...

Humphry Repton is one of England’s most interesting and prolific garden and landscape designers. Renowned for his innovative design proposals and distinctive ‘before and after’ images, captured in his famous ‘Red Books’, Repton’s astonishing career represents the link between the simple parklands of his predecessor Capability Brown and the more elaborate, structured and formal landscapes of the Victorian age. This lavishly illustrated book, based on a wealth of new research, reinterprets R...