Planning in the Early Medieval Landscape (Exeter Studies in Medieval Europe)
Language: English
Published by Liverpool University Press, 2020
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: Britannia Archaeology Books, London, London, United KingdomBritannia Archaeology Books
AbeBooks seller since March 30, 2026
Condition: Used - As new
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A major interdisciplinary study of landscape planning in early medieval England. Combining archaeological, historical, and spatial analysis, this work examines settlement patterns, field systems, and land division techniques in the Anglo-Saxon period. Drawing on new research and survey data, the authors explore the extent to which early medieval societies employed planned layouts and grid systems, offering fresh insight into rural and settlement development between c.600–1050. An important reference for students and researchers in medieval history, archaeology, and landscape studies. Hardback in near fine condition. Covers clean with only very light shelf wear and minor bumping to corners. Page edges clean. Binding tight and square. Internally bright and unmarked with no inscriptions.
Seller Inventory # ABE-1775233182135
- Title
- Planning in the Early Medieval Landscape (Exeter Studies in Medieval Europe)
- Author
- Blair, John; Rippon, Stephen; Smart, Christopher
- Publisher
- Liverpool University Press
- Publication year
- 2020
- Condition
- As new
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 178962116X
- ISBN 13
- 9781789621167
- Item weight
- 925 grams
- Dimensions
- 2.54 centimeters width by 15.88 centimeters height by 23.5 centimeters depth
The extent to which Anglo-Saxon society was capable of large-scale transformations of the landscape is hotly disputed. This interdisciplinary book – embracing archaeological and historical sources – explores this important period in our landscape history and the extent to which buildings, settlements and field systems were laid out using sophisticated surveying techniques. In particular, recent research has found new and unexpected evidence for the construction of building complexes and settlements on geometrically precise grids, suggesting a revival of the techniques of the Roman land-surveyors (Agrimensores). Two units of measurement appear to have been used: the ‘short perch’ of 15 feet in central and eastern England, where most cases occur, and the ‘long perch’ of 18 feet at the small number of examples identified in Wessex. This technically advanced planning is evident during two periods: c.600–800, when it may have been a mostly monastic practice, and c.940–1020, when it appears to have been revived in a monastic context but then spread to a wider range of lay settlements.
Planning in the Early Medieval Landscape is a completely new perspective on how villages and other settlement were formed. It combines map and field evidence with manuscript treatises on land-surveying to show that the methods described in the treatises were not just theoretical, but were put into practice. In doing so it reveals a major aspect of previously unrecognised early medieval technology.
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About the Author
Stephen Rippon is Professor of Landscape Archaeology at the University of Exeter. He has served as President of the Medieval Settlement Research Group and Treasurer of the Society for Medieval Archaeology. His many books include Kingdom, Civitas, and County: The Evolution of Territory in the English Landscape (OUP 2018); The Fields of Britannia, with C. Smart and B. Pears (OUP 2015) and
Beyond the Medieval Village: The Diversification of Landscape Character in Southern Britain (OUP 2nd edition 2014).
Chris Smart is a Research Associate in Archaeology at the University of Exeter. He is a landscape archaeologist who specialises in the heritage of Roman and medieval Britain, and the use of GIS in ‘big data’ research. He is the editor of Industry and the Making of a Rural Landscape: the Regional Context of Iron and Pottery Production at Churchill’s Farm, Hemyock, Devon (BAR 2018).
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Britannia Archaeology Books
London, London, United Kingdom
AbeBooks seller since March 30, 2026
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Independent UK bookseller specialising in archaeology, landscape history, and academic research titles. Stock focuses on Roman Britain, medieval and historic landscapes, and archaeological methodology, including field survey, aerial archaelogy, and material studies. A mix of scholarly monographs, university press publications, and select general history titles is offered. All books are carefully inspected and described honestly, with attention to condition. Items are securely packaged and dispatched promptly. Always happy to assist with queries or specific title requests.…
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