The Making of the English Landscape

by W.G. Hoskins

'No one before has ever brought out with quite the same vividness the historical background of the country all around us' - "Guardian" - a classic of English landscape history, reissued in its fiftieth anniversary year. First published in 1955 by Hodder, "The Making Of The English Landscape" is a classic of English history. It was the first book to study, literally, the history of the landscape, and also the first to explode the myth that the English landscape was 'formed by enclosures'. Instead W. G. Hoskins traces the beauty and oddities of the English landscape further back, from pre-Roman times to the seventeenth century and beyond. Hoskins explains the layers of history in the landscape by taking the reader with him along Devonshire lanes, past lost villages in Lincolnshire, and through the pastures of upland Northamptonshire. This is a delightful book, readable and scholarly, which has been much-loved by readers for the past fifty years.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Archaeology, British Literature, Nature, Geography, Environment

274 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

Reviews

[Lee Broderick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some books have a reputation that precedes them. I'd been meaning to read The Making of the English Landscape ever since my first degree. It's an acknowledged classic in a discipline which has very few. Given that context, it's probably no surprise that in some ways it couldn't live up to my expectations.

This is a classic for it's subject as much as for its prose. In weaving his narrative, W.G. Hoskins leans heavily on the East Midlands and, to a lesser extent, mid-Devon. Since he grew up in the latter and worked in the former (as a lecturer at the University of Leicester) that is perhaps understandable - particularly in light of the incredible amount of work that a larger amount of primary data would have entailed. The book, written as much for a popular audience as for an academic one, effectively birthed Landscape History and midwifed Landscape Archaeology. The growth of those sub-disciplines since this study's publication means that we have a wider understanding of matters now.

Our understanding is not just wider though but deeper - in the sense that we have a greater understanding of the development of landscapes through time than was possible when Hoskins wrote. It is then, in this sense, outdated.

The other reason given for its status - contributing to its impact - is the author's prose. Whilst this is acceptable I found it to be very much of its period, occasionally feeling like a public lecture. In the final chapter though it does come alive but this is largely because he has given up the lecture and allows himself full reign to indulge his sermon - namely the despoilment of the English countryside since its perfection with the Enclosure Acts. Some nice words for railways aside, this is the narrative the author focuses on - the development of the landscape through history until this point and its ruin afterwards, an evolution from Eden and back to the Heart of Darkness through those Dark, Satanic Mills.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read - rather dated in style and the writing can be tough to get through at times as he doesn't write well for a general audience, but for enthusiasts (consequently he can take several pages going into far too much detail while missing points that might be of more advantage to a general reader).

What I liked was the way it encourages you to read the language of the landscape - when telltale shadows of the past show through to the modern day: why does a road take an apparently unnecessarily circuitous path; why are the fields ridged; why are some ditches so wide; why do some lanes have no apparent destination; why do terraced streets in towns come in blocks or alternating directions; why did some towns develop dense slums while others spread out in a more comfortable way.

This was a pioneering work when first published in the 1950s so you have to forgive some of its faults, but I did find his dismissal of *everything* modern a little tiresome. He flips past the black death (understandably, because this is a book of the landscape not a social history and it didn't impact the landscape) but talks of how joyous it must have been to live just after the Black Death when there were no people (he doesn't seem to like people being in his landscape) and lots of clear countryside and you weren't scraping for a life and no planes (he hates planes ... and airfields ... even more than he hates people).

So very interesting, but his personal interjections were a little wearing and even comical after a while.

[Jake Goretzki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superbly lyrical and thoughtful study of a subject I know very little about. Full of charming detective work and some fascinating 'what ifs' (the comparison between the development of Nottingham, Leicester and Stamford is brilliant).

So many things here that feel obvious once you hear them, but didn't really occur to me: the very low populations for so long, such that, yes, whole parts of a country will be wilderness. The small world that villagers would have lived in, where the world even beyond your settlement starts to feel like an unknown country where no path need lead. The very idea that villages were'nt always a given (vs hamlets and outlying farmsteads). The weird field shapes created by ad hoc deforestation and development of 'wastes', giving us the random shapes of fields. The random shapes of towns - being that very few would have the wealth and control to ever actually lay out a town (it's more about giving it rights and charters and letting it happen organically). The idea that straight roads in rural areas aren't necessarily ancient, but more likely to have been carved through from village to village *after* enclosure.

As it heads from rural to urban, we start entering Nairn territory (which I love) and all those factors that make one town feel 'right' (e.g. Stamford) and another feeling like an utter human-hating hole (Basildon). And now, it's left me spotting 'Green Lanes' and 'Green Streets' - and surely, the Green Street of West Ham fame must have been a supply road for the Boleyn-era castle / manor from Wanstead flats. You knows it. With its black and white plates and photos of ancient field systems, it puts me in mind to visit so many of these out-of-the-way spots.

Charming piece of work - and good to see it's still in print.

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it is nearly 70 years old, and discussing an England landscape that barely exists, at least in his focus on parts of the central midlands and ‘Home Counties’, there remains something delightful about Hoskins’ turns of phrase and insistence on walking the land and the learning we get from feet on the ground. There is a crucial attention to detail, a powerful sense of the palimpsest that is the place we occupy – be it urban or rural – and the continuing presence of the past in where we are. I am also struck by the messiness of English lands, and the contrast to settlement colonies where primitive accumulation and land theft mean that settler states imposed a land system on Indigenous owned and for the most part unceded land in a way that sought to deny the complexities of space Hoskins draws out in his traversing of the spaces of England. Dated as it may be, and historically important as it remains in studies of the rural and urban spaces around us, it remains a poetic, romantic painting of a sense of England that once was, and that many still seem to grip tightly to.

[Matt Salts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic - providing the groundwork for all following English landscape history. But it is also slightly flawed - not just hos errors, such as that more recent research has shown deforestation took place considerably earlier than he claims, but his view that everything was so much better in the past. Yes, there weren't concrete tower blocks, but also have you seen life expectancy figures from the 15th century? And crime was quite a but higher..
Nonetheless, an excellent read.

[Guy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little dated (published fifty years ago), but still interesting, this book was apparently the first real attempt to explain why the English landscape (insofar as it is man-made) is the way that it is. I love books like this (my archetypal example being "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond), so when I saw this one in a Cambridge bookstore, I didn't hesitate. And although it isn't perfect, I'm glad I did.

Hoskins wants us to open our eyes to the presence of history in the physical world around us. Why does that lane have such deep ditches, why does it appear to go from nowhere to nowhere, and why does it jog left and right so often whereas another two miles away runs straight as an arrow? What do those waves in that field mean and why are those hedges so wide? What is behind place names? Why does that village have two churches, and the church in that town no graveyard? These and many other questions turn out to have answers... and by looking for the answers we learn things about why the English landscape looks the way it does today.

On the downside, it is a book written by an enthusiast for other enthusiasts... and as such has more detail and detailed examination of minor issues than would be the case if it were written for a general audience today. But if you skip ahead a few paragraphs or a page when you feel your eyes glazing over then there is more than enough to reward you for your perseverance.

[Kevin de Ataíde]

Nice, short book, designed to accompany Mr. Hoskin's television show on the same subject. He treats the landscape according to various themes, which include building, prosperity, failure and so on and goes on to describe in detail how hard-to-notice features of the landscape can hide centuries of history. The author has a deep knowledge of the history of the whole of England, from lands-end to Canterbury, Portsmouth to York, and beyond. I look forward to discovering his better known masterpiece, the Making of the English Landscape.

[Antonio Gallo · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Making of the English Landscape" è un libro scritto dall'archeologo e geografo inglese W.G. Hoskins, pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1955. Il libro ha avuto un grande impatto nella disciplina della geografia storica e ha influenzato gli studi sulla storia del paesaggio inglese.

Il libro di Hoskins esplora l'evoluzione della campagna inglese dal Neolitico fino all'epoca moderna, esaminando la storia dell'agricoltura, dei villaggi, delle città, delle strade e dei confini territoriali. Hoskins sostiene che il paesaggio inglese è stato plasmato non solo dalle forze naturali, ma anche dalle attività umane, e che la sua storia può essere letta attraverso le tracce lasciate dalle generazioni precedenti.

Hoskins utilizza un approccio interdisciplinare alla storia del paesaggio, combinando l'archeologia, la geografia, la storia sociale e la toponomastica per ricostruire la storia del paesaggio inglese. Egli sostiene che la comprensione del paesaggio è fondamentale per la comprensione della storia e della cultura di un popolo, e che il paesaggio è uno specchio della società che loha creato.

Uno dei concetti chiave del libro è quello di "paleo-paesaggio", ovvero la ricostruzione del paesaggio antico sulla base delle tracce archeologiche, delle mappe storiche e delle testimonianze scritte. Hoskins utilizza questo approccio per mostrare come il paesaggio inglese sia stato modellato dalla coltivazione agricola, dalla pastorizia, dalla gestione delle foreste e dallo sviluppo delle città e dei villaggi.

Il libro di Hoskins ha avuto un grande impatto nella disciplina della geografia storica e ha influenzato numerosi studi sulla storia del paesaggio in Inghilterra e in altre parti del mondo. La sua approfondita analisi ha dimostrato come il paesaggio sia un importante strumento per la comprensione della storia e della cultura di una società, e ha evidenziato l'importanza della conservazione del paesaggio storico come patrimonio culturale.

"The Making of the English Landscape" di W.G. Hoskins è un libro fondamentale per la comprensione della storia del paesaggio inglese e della geografia storica. La sua analisi interdisciplinare e il concetto di "paleo-paesaggio" hanno influenzatogli studi sulla storia del paesaggio in tutto il mondo, dimostrando l'importanza del paesaggio come strumento per la comprensione della storia e della cultura di una società. Il libro ha avuto un grande impatto nella disciplina della geografia storica e ha contribuito alla valorizzazione del paesaggio storico come patrimonio culturale.

Il paesaggio inglese ha subito cambiamenti significativi nel tempo, plasmati sia dalle forze naturali che da quelle umane. Ecco alcuni esempi di come il paesaggio inglese è cambiato nel corso della storia:

1. Deforestazione: prima dell'arrivo degli esseri umani in Inghilterra, il paese era coperto da fitte foreste. Tuttavia, nel corso del tempo, gli esseri umani hanno ripulito vaste aree di foresta per l'agricoltura, il carburante e l'edilizia, causando una significativa deforestazione. Nel Medioevo, gran parte dell'Inghilterra era stata ripulita dalle sue foreste.

2. Pratiche agricole: l'agricoltura è stata una forza importante nel plasmare il paesaggio inglese. Nel medioevo il sistema di campo aperto era la forma dominante di agricoltura, con vaste aree di terra suddivise in fasce e coltivate da più contadini. Successivamente, il movimento di recinzione ha visto il consolidamento della terra in fattorie più grandi e recintate, portando alla creazione del paesaggio patchwork simile a una trapunta che caratterizza oggi gran parte dell'Inghilterra rurale.

3. Industrializzazione: la rivoluzione industriale ha apportato cambiamenti significativi al panorama inglese. Furono costruite nuove fabbriche, mulini e miniere e l'urbanizzazione aumentò man mano che le persone migravano dalle campagne alle città in cerca di lavoro. Ciò ha portato alla crescita di grandi città industriali come Manchester, Birmingham e Sheffield e allo sviluppo di nuove reti di trasporto, come canali, ferrovie e strade.

4. Paesaggistica e giardinaggio: la paesaggistica e il giardinaggio hanno svolto un ruolo significativo nel plasmare il paesaggio inglese. I giardini formali del Rinascimento e i giardini paesaggistici del XVIII secolo, con i loro ampi prati, i laghetti ornamentali e le viste attentamente progettate, sono esempi di come gli esseri umani hanno trasformato il paesaggio naturale per scopi estetici. Anche la creazione di parchi e giardini pubblici nelle aree urbane, come Hyde Park e Kew Gardens a Londra, ha avuto un impatto significativo sul paesaggio inglese.

5. Sforzi di conservazione: negli ultimi anni, c'è stata una crescente consapevolezza della necessità di conservare e proteggere il paesaggio inglese. Gli sforzi di conservazione si sono concentrati sul ripristino e la conservazione di aree di bellezza naturale e significato storico, come parchi nazionali, aree di straordinaria bellezza naturale e siti di importanza storica. C'è stato anche un movimento per promuovere pratiche agricole e forestali sostenibili e per proteggere la fauna selvatica e la biodiversità.

Questi sono solo alcuni esempi di come il paesaggio inglese sia cambiato nel tempo. Il paesaggio è in continua evoluzione, plasmato da forze sia naturali che umane, e continuerà a cambiare in futuro con l'evolversi della società e dell'ambiente.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting overview of the English landscape and its development in terms of villages, towns, and cities. Very interesting.

[Charles Sheard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this subject, and I feel the book is a necessary read if you care for the subject in general, and English landscape history in particular. But this book stemmed from five separate radio broadcasts Hoskins gave, and ultimately, that set up the major flaws of this book. In the first place, the author repeats himself far too often, which is something you would expect when he is touching on the same context in successive radio addresses, but is not something you expect when he just covered the same subject in great detail the last chapter. In the second place, Hoskins drops unending lists of examples of whatever point he is making, nearly every paragraph or two, pointing to small towns and their landscape features all across England. That might be valuable if you are a walking gazetteer of England, but is certainly less helpful for those of use that didn't grow up and spend our entire lives there (and I doubt even those that did would have the personal familiarity with all those places). It would have been much more valuable to reference fewer examples, but go into greater depth with explanatory photographs and diagrams of each example. In the third place, since this is specifically a book about how historical actions shaped the landscape, I felt the illustrations could have been even more frequent and more specific to the points being made. For example, in the Chapter on roadways Hoskins limits himself to using as an example for larger application the area shown on a single ordinance survey sheet, yet he does not even bother to include a copy of that sheet as one of the illustrations! Nor, for that matter, are most of the pictures in the chapter even from the area he is discussing, but from other parts of the country that might show a similar concept. The subject matter cries out for a textbook, where each particular concept is better discussed in detail with explanatory charts, photos, etc., rather than a brief surface treatment with a a lot of references to places that are meaningless to me unless I pull of Google Earth and start doing my own research.

I wanted to enjoy the book more. I enjoy Hoskins sensibilities and writing, when his own voice is coming through. The closing pages especially, when he discusses the ten centuries of history evident in the surroundings viewed from his own window, represent the writing that I wanted more of throughout. It makes you wish you could pull on a pair of Wellies and spend the day walking the countryside with him, as he points out feature after feature of historical interest. Of course, I also shudder to think how he would have felt about land-use in the 60 years since he wrote this.

[Michael G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite liked this book, but I didn’t love it. It’s the sort of book you would read on a winters getaway to a countryside cottage, and then ponder its contents as you go out for muddy walks.

The author has a semi-poetic writing style that I found easy to follow. It might be a little bit old fashioned but it is still more readable than plenty of more modern books. He is a bit melancholy for the past and anti-industrial and anti-modern in his outlook. I don’t blame him and I think his observation that the custodians of England have done more harm than good in the last century is mostly correct.

There are many things of interest in here: different types of building from different settlers, like Saxons, Romans and Vikings. I enjoyed reading about the enclosures, and how it wasn’t all just the parliamentary enclosures. The railways, even though they are better than roads (aesthetically and in other ways) had a profound impact on England, homogenising building materials in ways not before possible, curtailing regional distinctiveness.

If this is your cup of tea put on the kettle. I thought it a good read but it isn’t to everyone’s tastes!

[Shelly Dennison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, if dated, narrative history of the development​ of the English landscape. The turn of phrase often reminds you that this was written in the 1950s, and of course this also means that the modern day England he describes doesn't bear that much resemblance to ours. That said, the book did make me want to get out and look at different landscapes through fresh eyes and it was good that it wasn't all rural but looked at towns, canals and industry too. Geographically it concentrates on the Midlands and south west which can be frustrating at times if you're looking for more on what makes the north of England distinctive.

There are lots of photographs, maps and plans to illustrate the points being made in the text but as ever these are all in black and white when colour might have helped.

[Andrew Earnshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book, taking you on a lyrical tour through the British landscape and through British history.

The importance of this book cannot be overstated, it kick-started British Landscape history and Landscape archaeology at the same time. It is deeply enjoyable and acts as a strong reminder of the romance inherent to archaeology and history.

HOWEVER, it loses a star because, well, it's nearly 70 years old now. It is deeply unreliable as a source and so it is only really appropriate for those who have been well introduced to British landscape studies as otherwise you will be left with a simplified, overly romantic and often factually incorrect view of British history. This is something the author is conscious of and doesn't take away from how lovely this book is but it does limit its usefulness and accessibility.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alongside Dr. Rackham's later work this remains the text in English-language landscape history, a field which deserves to be far larger and better respected. It's dense, methodological and dated, as other reviewers will hasten to tell you; it's also dense, methodological and astonishingly incisive in its articulation of findings and limitations, a seminal work that deserves every plaudit. Certainly not a book for the casually interested (consider early Robert Macfarlane, Geoff Park in New Zealand, or Roger Deakin) but an enduringly important work. We can hold out hope that a late flowering of scholars in Rackham and Hoskins' school might still be just over the horizon.

[Richard Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I much enjoyed this book, which has given me new eyes to see England as I walk through it. A favourite of W H Auden, William Boyd, and Penelope Lively, the book was was published in 1955 and was the first to read the English countryside historically and not just topographically, as many, including Wordsworth, had done. It’s been superseded by historically more accurate books, but it’s still read for its originality and the beauty of its prose.

I've posted two blogs based on the book, and one of them includes most of his last chapter, which is both a howl of protest at the destruction of the English landscape and a beautiful elegy:

https://richardswsmith.wordpress.com/...

[Stephen Gamble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight in to my top 20 books ( even though I have no such list). A sort of passionate academic dusty romantic account of the making of the English landscape through history with a rip roaring final chapter of fury and lament. WG is bigger on detail than I am inclined to be but I can forgive him that as he has to show he knows what he is talking about. So glad he lets his opinions force their way through the academic thinking in his writing.

His challenging of modernity may have actually changed me. Not many books leave me a different person.

[Martin Ridgway · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's a lot of detailed research in here but also a lot of personal intelligent guesswork (no problem) and contempt for modern (1955) developments of the landscape and social varieties.
Also lot of detailed "on the ground" description that expects you to have the relevant OS map open as you read (try searching "National Library of Scotland maps" for their superb map site).
Overall, a bit disappointing.

[Gareth Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written nearly 70 years ago, The Making of the English Landscape, is a historical document itself and perhaps should be read as such. Hoskins writes well and his passion and insight. He may be criticised for his dismissal of the scientists and engineers of the 20th century, when he embraces scientific and engineering progress of earlier reads. There are other areas with which to disagree, but overall, it’s a lovely, interesting book.

[Kieran · Rating 3 out of 5]

In places, this book retains the superb insights and evocations of a sense of place that make it a deserved classic. However, in other chapters, it is starting to show its age. But then, few history books have any relevance 60 years after publication, so Hoskins' work is doing well to still be hanging in there.

[Ade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this a lot but bear in mind that the Little Toller edition is more of a facsimile of the original text than a modern update. Some previous editions apparently carried commentary and annotations to correct some of the oversights or omissions that have been revealed by later research, which arguably would make it more useful as a reference.

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little out of date in a couple of places (recent archaeology suggests the extent of ‘wild wood’ was probably a lot smaller even in the Neolithic), but it reflects an English countryside already disappearing when I was a child. Love his disgust at anything post 1914!
Will make me look at landscapes/townscapes more carefully.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant. Opens your eyes to the landscape around you and makes you look at both towns and countryside more closely. He's a bit of a reactionary old duffer at times, there is lots of chuntering about town planners and development and all that. But the historical stuff is great. I'm emotionally drained.

[Xander Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book with a title that speaks for itself. Great companion to any study of British landscape.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

hard to imagine this being done better in the short space allotted to it

[Charlie Balnaves · Rating 3 out of 5]

i like the pictures

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a natural history of the physical environment we live in, both urban and rural, following the effects of successive invasions, colonisations, cultural developments and world events on shaping that landscape.
This is a seminal text, but it reads like a text book, (it's a core text on most undergraduate geography and countryside management courses) which it became shortly after the acclaim it received after it's first publishing.
It's fascinating and informative but won't convert anybody who doesn't already have an interest in the subject; if you do then you'll plough through it if not try Oliver Rackham's The Illustrated History of the Countryside

[Conrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as the parliamentary act of enclosure brought large tracts of barren land and open farm land into more productive use, so the information in this book has filled in a lot of blank areas in my knowledge of the development of the English countryside. The later chapters dealing with the impact of the canals and railroads and of the growth of the industrial cities and the cause of slums was particularly fascinating. Obviously, at the time of writing, he deeply lamented the crassness of the Cold War era and of its impact on the use of the land. Hopefully not all has been lost and a greater sensibility of the need to protect the marvelous heritage of the country has arisen since those days.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This classic of landscape history hasn't aged particularly well. Hoskins is at his best when comparing the insights of contemporary poets and diarists of the changing landscape around them. Unfortunately, his own insights are somewhat few and far between, and when they do appear they are often as throwaway lines - brief, fascinating statements but without much-needed exposition or even evidence. Instead, Hoskins has a penchant for long rambling details that are difficult to digest for the modern reader, and has a habit of derailing into reveries for long-lost times or else rants at the 'beastly' state of modernity. Keith Thomas' introduction in my Folio edition does a better job of summarising the main points of this book, as well as pointing out its oversights.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating!