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The Anglo-Saxon landscape: The kingdom of the Hwicce
The landscape of pre-Conquest England can often be reconstructed in minute detail. Yet this is one of the first attempts at such a project. Here the evidence is examined for the West Midlands – the counties of Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire, much of which formed the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the Hwicce.
Della Hooke reveals the intimate local landscape through the medium of place names, contemporary documents and archaeological evidence. Her detailed picture brings the Anglo-Saxon countryside very much to life. The patterns which emerge in this period go far to explain the nature of later medieval patterns of settlement and field systems, and provide the key to understanding territorial organisation in the region.
Della Hooke reveals the intimate local landscape through the medium of place names, contemporary documents and archaeological evidence. Her detailed picture brings the Anglo-Saxon countryside very much to life. The patterns which emerge in this period go far to explain the nature of later medieval patterns of settlement and field systems, and provide the key to understanding territorial organisation in the region.
- GenresHistory
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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April 14, 2020
The Anglo-Saxon landscape – The Kingdom of the Hwicce, by Della Hooke, 1985, 250 pages
This is an excellent study, via the use of landscape studies and records, of one particular minor kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England. We are rather lucky in Worcester Cathedral's archive having not suffered too badly from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and so we know more about this area than we do most. Their charters contain enough details to provide Hooke with evidence to assist her investigation into the landscape of this kingdom.
The chapters include:
The kingdom of the Hwicce
Sources of Evidence
The organisation of the kingdom
Aspects of the region's economy
Woodland and Heath
The Agricultural regions
The developing regions
Conclusions
There are loads of detailed maps that support what Hooke is describing in each chapter. She's very precise in saying what she means and also in pointing out when something is a maybe, rather than a probably. There isn't much political history, though and that's a shame. There is only a finite amount of information available about the politics of this area and if it had been included, then this would have been an extremely comprehensive book. Instead, various personages only really get mentioned if they had a connection to the landscape.
The research is very thorough and there are so many examples evidencing how the kingdom developed that it's very hard to see how this work could be challenged. In fact any new archaeological evidence would probably only add to it, instead of challenging it. One side effect of this level of detail is that by the time you're reading the 5th or 6th example of the significance of a boundary or comparison in the number of leah place-names in one locality to another it can get a bit samey. Whilst that doesn't add to the readability, the thoroughness can't be faulted.
It's nice to see that her comments regarding settlement nucleation in the later Anglo-Saxon period have been further substantiated by others since this was published.
This is a good book that tackles a minor kingdom via the medium of landscape studies very well. If you can't get enough discussion about soil types, boundary hedges, rural deanery boundaries, records of estates being split, trackways mentioned in charters, parishes with offshoots and the like, then you'll love this. I enjoyed it myself.
This is an excellent study, via the use of landscape studies and records, of one particular minor kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England. We are rather lucky in Worcester Cathedral's archive having not suffered too badly from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and so we know more about this area than we do most. Their charters contain enough details to provide Hooke with evidence to assist her investigation into the landscape of this kingdom.
The chapters include:
The kingdom of the Hwicce
Sources of Evidence
The organisation of the kingdom
Aspects of the region's economy
Woodland and Heath
The Agricultural regions
The developing regions
Conclusions
There are loads of detailed maps that support what Hooke is describing in each chapter. She's very precise in saying what she means and also in pointing out when something is a maybe, rather than a probably. There isn't much political history, though and that's a shame. There is only a finite amount of information available about the politics of this area and if it had been included, then this would have been an extremely comprehensive book. Instead, various personages only really get mentioned if they had a connection to the landscape.
The research is very thorough and there are so many examples evidencing how the kingdom developed that it's very hard to see how this work could be challenged. In fact any new archaeological evidence would probably only add to it, instead of challenging it. One side effect of this level of detail is that by the time you're reading the 5th or 6th example of the significance of a boundary or comparison in the number of leah place-names in one locality to another it can get a bit samey. Whilst that doesn't add to the readability, the thoroughness can't be faulted.
It's nice to see that her comments regarding settlement nucleation in the later Anglo-Saxon period have been further substantiated by others since this was published.
This is a good book that tackles a minor kingdom via the medium of landscape studies very well. If you can't get enough discussion about soil types, boundary hedges, rural deanery boundaries, records of estates being split, trackways mentioned in charters, parishes with offshoots and the like, then you'll love this. I enjoyed it myself.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review