Title:
|
Perceptions of the Norfolk landscape c. 1500-1750
|
Until relatively recently the emphasis in landscape archaeology has mainly been
concerned with the impact of human activities on the landscape, and how local
environments have shaped patterns of demography, agricultural practices and
settlement. This thesis attempts to recover some of the possible ways in which
people in the early modem period experienced and perceived their physical
surroundings. This is achieved through a detailed analysis of court records and
cartographic evidence for Norfolk. Particular attention is paid to evaluating how
contemporary interpretations of the landscape were affected by the principle
social, economic and ideological changes of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
An attempt is made to define some broad spatial changes underway in this period -
changes that were themselves related in complex and subtle ways. These include:
the transformation of religious topographies following the changes brought about
during the 'Reformation'; the developing role of the parish as the basic unit for
governance; and the changing balance of interests between manor and parish. It
explores the interconnections between landscape, memory and custom: the re-use
of material relics of the past - their utilisation in new contexts - and their
integration within the 'language' of custom. The overall aim is to achieve a more
nuanced understanding of the post-medieval landscape than is often presented, by
considering the landscape, as it was 'inhabited'.
|