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Sam Turner’s important interpretation of early medieval patterns of landscape development traces landscape change in the South West from the introduction of Christianity to the Norman Conquest (AD c. 450–1070).
The book stresses the significance of political and religious ideology in both the ‘Celtic’ west (especially Cornwall) and the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ east (especially the Wessex counties of Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset). Using innovative new research methods, and making use of archaeology, place-name evidence, historical sources and land-use patterns, it challenges previous work on the subject by suggesting that the two regions have much in common.
Using modern mapping techniques to explore land-use trends, Turner advances a new model for the evolution of ecclesiastical institutions in south-west England. He shows that the early development of Christianity had an impact on the countryside that remains visible in the landscape we see today. Accessibly written with a glossary of terms and a comprehensive bibliography, the book will appeal to both veterans and newcomers to landscape archaeology.
“…this welcome addition to the literature on south-western Britain in the early middle ages”
“Readable, scholarly and insightful.”
Sam Turner is senior lecturer in archaeology at Newcastle University and editor of the Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings.
Acknowledgements
Definitions, Glossary and Abbreviations
1 Introduction: Churches and the early medieval landscape
2 Studying early medieval landscapes in south-west Britain
3 The location and form of early churches in south-west Britain
4 Ecclesiastical centres and changing settlement patterns
5 Ecclesiastical centres and early medieval administrative structures
6 The changing ritual landscape of the conversion period
7 Developing medieval landscapes: The multiplication of churches and other Christian monuments
8 From south-west Britain to the wider world
Bibliography
Index