Planning in the Early Medieval Landscape

This book explores the extent to which Anglo-Saxon society was capable of large-scale transformations of the landscape, using archaeological and historical sources. Recent research has revealed evidence for the construction of building complexes and settlements on geometrically precise grids, suggesting a revival of Roman land-surveying techniques. Two units of measurement were used, the 'short perch' of 15 feet in central and eastern England and the 'long perch' of 18 feet in Wessex. This advanced planning was evident during two periods, c.600–800 and c.940–1020, and reveals a major aspect of previously unrecognised early medieval technology.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 01 March 2022
Publisher: Liverpool University Press

The debate surrounding the extent to which Anglo-Saxon society was capable of large-scale transformations of the landscape is intense. This interdisciplinary book, encompassing archaeological and historical sources, delves into this significant period in our landscape history, examining the extent to which buildings, settlements, and field systems were meticulously laid out using sophisticated surveying techniques.

In particular, recent research has uncovered new and unexpected evidence for the construction of building complexes and settlements on geometrically precise grids, suggesting a revival of the techniques employed by 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 few examples identified in Wessex. This technologically advanced planning is evident during two periods: c. 600–800, when it may have been primarily a 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 offers a groundbreaking perspective on the formation of villages and other settlements. By combining map and field evidence with manuscript treatises on land-surveying, it demonstrates that the methods described in these treatises were not merely theoretical but were actively implemented. This revelation sheds light on a significant aspect of previously unrecognized early medieval technology.

Weight: 694g
Dimension: 158 x 233 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781800856356