The South Oxfordshire Project: perceptions of landscape, settlement and society, c. 500–1650

ABSTRACT

Historians and archaeologists are increasingly interested in moving beyond landscape reconstruction and economics to investigate how past inhabitants perceived their environment. This reflects the subject's intrinsic interest and an awareness of the importance of decisions made by ordinary people in shaping the development of the countryside. However, the evidence available makes it difficult to uncover mentalities and attitudes. To date, most attention has been paid to particular features which seem to say most about self-perception and beliefs, but the greatest advances will arguably be made by studying the landscape as a whole. This article explains the approach to popular perceptions being adopted by ‘The South Oxfordshire Project’, an interdisciplinary analysis of fourteen parishes encompassing lowland clay vales and Chilterns wood-pasture from the early Middle Ages to the mid seventeenth century.

Keywords:

• Perceptions
• identity
• medieval landscape
• Oxfordshire
• the Chilterns

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank John Blair, Chris Dyer, Helena Hamerow, Simon Townley and Chris Wickham for their comments on a draft version of this article. The pilot phase of the project was funded by the OUP John Fell Fund, and fieldwork has been supported by the Medieval Settlement Research Group and the W. A. Pantin Charitable Trust. Work from 2012 to 2015 is being funded by the Leverhulme Trust.