Description
Book SynopsisRenowned environmental historian I.G. Simmons synthesises detailed research into the landscape history of the coastal area of Lincolnshire between Boston and Skegness and its hinterland of Tofts, Low Grounds and Fen as far as the Wolds. With many excellent illustrations Simmons chronicles the ways in which this low coast, backed by a wet fen, has been managed to display a set of landscapes which have significant differences that contradict the common terminology of uniformity, calling the area 'flat' or referring to everywhere from Cleethorpes to King's Lynn as 'the fens'.
These usually labelled 'flat' areas of East Lincolnshire between Mablethorpe and Boston are in fact a mosaic of subtly different landscapes. They have become that way largely due to the human influences derived from agriculture and industry. Between the beginning of Norman rule and the advent of pumped drainage, a number of significant changes took place.
The author has accumulated information from Roman times until the beginnings of fossil-fuel powered drainage, bringing together both scientific data and documentary evidence including medieval and early modern documents from the National Archive, Lincolnshire Archives, Bethlem Hospital and Magdalen College, Oxford, to explore the little-known archives of regional interest.
Trade Review[A] particularly strong feature is the use of extracts from primary sources that bring the landscape - and the people who managed it - to life. * Medieval Archaeology *
This is a rich and complex book … worth persisting with, which tells a fascinating story of the evolution of part of the Lincolnshire landscape. * Lincolnshire Past & Present *
[T]his is a useful and highly accessible piece of landscape history that emphasises the richness and variety of an often overlooked and undervalued landscape. * Current Archaeology *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Plates List of Tables Preface Acknowledgements Note on Sources Abbreviations Scope and Direction Part 1: Before Domesday Part 2: The Manor and the Land Part 3: The High Middle Ages 1300-1500 Part 4: Medieval to Early Modern 1500-1700 Part 5: Some Contexts Appendix: The Wainfleet Custumal Bibliography
