Ancient Woodland: History, Industry and Crafts

by Ian D. Rotherham

Most of us enjoy a regular stroll in our local wood, but we might not be aware of the ancient origins of our surroundings. From medieval times, woodlands were carefully managed commodities with hotly contested resources: conflicting demands from landowners, the Crown, the peasantry and local and national wood-based industries have all left their marks on today's woodland. Ian Rotherham here explains the various uses of our woods and their industries - such as coppicing, charcoal burning, basketmaking and bodging - and helps us to find the clues that can piece our woodland history together. Looking at the flowers, the trees that were once worked and the bumps in the ground can tell us about the people who worked and sometimes lived in the woods, and we can track their history from medieval times, through the age of enclosure and the decline of local industries, right up to the present.

64 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 2012

About the author

Professor Ian D. Rotherham, is an leading authority on the cultural and historical aspects of landscapes. He is Professor of Envionmental Geography and Reader in Tourism & Environmental Change at Sheffield Hallam University. He has acted as an advisor to the BBC, working on programmes for BBC Radio 4 and for documentary programmes such as Panorama and Horizon.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately just a booklet at 64 pages. Very much enjoyed the information that it did contain, but it left me wanting more detail and explanation. Rating would likely have been quite a bit higher if the book were 3-4 times its current length.