|
Showing 1 - 3 of
3 matches in All Departments
A collection of original essays by distinguished historians on the
works of topographical writers who described and recorded the
landscape of South-West England in the period c. 1540-1900. The
development, subject matter and contribution to knowledge of a
range of key authors is examined. For example, John Leland's
classic descriptions of South-West England will be assessed and the
works of local writers in the Tudor and Stuart era who followed an
developed his approach to the description of people and places is
examined. Amongst these, Richard Carew of Anthony produced perhaps
the finest of any of the descriptions of an English region in his
study of Cornwall, published in 1602. The authors follow the
writings of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset topographers who
contributed to the genre over more than three centuries. The book
also includes a gazetter of collections in Devon and Cornwall where
copies of the works of local topographical writers can be found.
This book examines recent views on the emerging settlement patterns
of early medieval Britain and their relation to land use, drawing
on both archaeological and documentary sources. Six essays,
displaying the combined skills of historians, archaeologists and
geographers, explore the evolution of the South West in rural and
urban contexts across many centuries. Simon Esmonde Cleary takes
the study from the later Romano-British into the post-Roman period;
Christopher Holdsworth examines the re-emergence of Christianity in
sixth-century England, the location of minsters and their role in
the economy. The problematic theme of continuity or dislocation
recurs in a number of chapters and is closely investigated by Peter
Rose and Ann Preston Jones in their chapter on Cornwall, a region
marginal to the main thrust of Anglo-Saxon cultural influence.
Ethnicity as a factor for change is challenged and Colleen Batey,
looking at Northern Britain, finds that archaeology fails to
identify with any degree of certainty the specific Scandinavian
house type in the uplands. Della Hooke presents a more general
summary of the period across England, noting the evidence for the
emerging landscape regions which were characterized by particular
settlement types and field systems and, in a case study of the
Failand ridge in North Somerset, James Bond sets the evidence
within a much broader time scale, revealing the gaps which still
caracterize our knowledge of the early medieval period.
This is the first historical atlas of a major region of the United
Kingdom. Its aim is to create and communicate the history of the
south-western peninsula of England-Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of
Scilly - from the beginnings of man's occupation to the present
day. The cartographic message projected by around 400 maps is
extended by a substantial text of about 250,000 words as well as
diagrams, contemporary prints and photographs. This is one of the
most substantial collaborative cartographic ventures undertaken in
the United Kingdom. There are more than fifty contributors, about
half of whom are drawn from within the University of Exeter, the
remainder being researchers at other universities who specialize on
topics relating to South-West England. The majority are
geographers, archaeologists and historians, but there are also
important contributions from political scientists, sociologists,
educationalists and the region's museums, library and archive
services. The pre-medieval content is organized chronologically but
thereafter the reconstruction of human occupation is structured
thematically
|
|