Perceptions of medieval landscapes

Full title: Perceptions of medieval landscapes and settlements
Duration: Launched July 2006, duration 12 months
Principle Investigator: Professor Christopher Dyer, University of Leicester
Co investigator: Dr Mark Gardiner, Medieval Settlement Research Group
Higher Education Institution: University of Leicester
Contact information: Tel: +44 (0)20 7383 2572 or email: a.bevan@ucl.ac.uk
Project web page: www.britarch.ac.uk/msrg/pomlashome.htm

 

Aims and Objectives

Between AD 400 and 1500 the landscape of Britain went through a series of radical changes. Those who study settlements, and the landscapes associated with them, have sought to explain when, how and why these changes took place. This project is designed to adopt another approach to medieval settlements and landscapes and out of this a new understanding of the medieval countryside will emerge, with implications for academic interpretation, but also for public enjoyment of the modern landscape.

For more details please go to the project summary document

Progress and Highlights

This is a series of 4 workshops, followed by a plenary conference, designed to open up new agendas and perspectives in the study of medieval landscapes and settlement.

The 4 projected workshops were held between February and September 2007 in Belfast, Edinburgh, Exeter and York. These were successful with over one hundred people attending. The four themes were:

• Planning and meaning
• Working and sharing
• New people, new farms
• Belonging, communication and interaction

The plenary conference was held on 1st December 2007 andwas envisaged as open to all so as to share something of the output of the various workshops and related discussions. The event posed the question "Perceptions: where do you think we came from?"

Some clear themes have emerged:

• Medieval settlement researchers have tended to be exclusive and narrow in their choice of sites and buildings for study. Studies of the settlements themselves are rightly concerned with the overall plan and the structures such as the houses, but more attention should be devoted to the life of the household and the way that houses and their surrounding spaces were inhabited.

• The ethnicity of the inhabitants of settlements is now being brought into the picture, especially in the ‘colonial' societies of the north and west. Upland and wetland landscapes need to be considered as integral parts of the countryside, contributing more than has been allowed. Poverty and backwardness in such environments have been assumed, yet wetlands in particular were full of rich resources.