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Abstract
Most studies of landscape character within archaeology and historical geography have focused on morphological features such as whether settlement patterns were nucleated or dispersed, but this paper discusses how adding depth to this, for example by studying place-names, vernacular architecture, and the territorial structures within which a landscape was managed in the past, gives us a far greater understanding of its texture and meaning to local communities. In two case-studies in southern Essex, for example, it is shown how the connections that once existed between inland and coastal communities can be used today to promote public access to the countryside. A further case study, in southwest England, shows how field-/place-names and vernacular architecture also make an important contribution to our appreciation of the time depth and complexity of landscape character.
Acknowledgements
The South Essex Marshes work was funded through an Arts and Humanities Research Council Knowledge Transfer Fellowship and I would like to thank the projects partners at Essex County Council (notably Nigel Brown and Adrian Gascoyne) and the RSPB (notably Dave Hedges) for their assistance. The Stonebridge work was carried out for Essex County Council and funded by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council and I would again like to thank Nigel Brown for all his help. On both projects Adam Wainwright acted as my ever efficient research assistant. I would like to thank Nigel Brown, Oliver Creighton and the two anonymous referees for their extremely helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
