This book brings to public attention some of the most evocative and threatened features of the landscape of southern England. Water meadows work with nature to improve agricultural productivity, whilst providing rich habitats for wildlife such as water voles, waders and grass snakes. They are areas of low-lying grassland which are regularly 'drowned' - artificially irrigated - at certain times of the year, to stimulate the early growth of grass in the spring. Only a few remain in operation today, though they played a crucial role in Britains past farming economy. Their archaeological remains...
This book brings to public attention some of the most evocative and threatened features of the landscape of southern England. Water meadows work with ...
Hadrian Cook's new account of the New Forest in southern England, provides an historical narrative of the occupation and use of a vast area that was, for centuries, important as a Royal Hunting Forest and subject to many contentious laws and regulations, but which includes much economically marginal land. Four critical themes are explored through time: the shaping of the natural environment into human prehistory; human intervention through natural resource management; governance and management of the forest over time, stressing pressures on resources and attempts at exclusion of certain...
Hadrian Cook's new account of the New Forest in southern England, provides an historical narrative of the occupation and use of a vast area that was, ...