with Edward Martin (Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service)
at Sutton Hoo, Saturday, 22nd March 2014.
The quotation in the course title comes from East Anglia’s greatest landscape artist, John Constable. This course will use the evidence of geology, archaeology and history to piece together an understanding of the formation of the East Anglian landscape and the ways that its inhabitants have shaped it over the thousands of years since they first settled on it, imprinting it with the shapes of their fields, greens, and settlements.
Cultural contrasts within the region will also be explored, particularly the ‘Gipping Divide’ in Suffolk, which has only recently been recognised as a stronger cultural boundary than the county boundaries to its north and south.
To fully understand the landscape is nigh impossible, but hopefully this course will open eyes to the complexity and richness of this archetypical lowland English landscape that inspired Constable and a host of other artists.
Provisional Programme
09.50 – 10.15: Coffee on arrival
10.15 – 11.15: Structure, soils and early settlement
11.15 – 11.45: Coffee break
11.45 – 12.45: ‘Primary’ settlements – halls and churches, manors and moats
12.45 – 14.00: Lunch break
14.00 – 15.00: ‘Secondary’ settlements – greens, commons and tyes
15.00 – 15.20: Tea break
15.20 – 16.20: Fields and the characterisation of the landscape
c.16.20: Thanks and Close
Some Suggestions for Optional Background Reading
Bailey, M. 2007: Medieval Suffolk. An Economic and Social History, 1200-1500. Boydell: Woodbridge.
Dymond, D. and Martin, E. (eds) 1999: An Historical Atlas of Suffolk. Suffolk County Council: Ipswich (3rd ed.).
Hunter, J. 1999: The Essex Landscape. A Study of its Form and History, Essex Record Office: Chelmsford.
Martin, E. 2007 : ‘Wheare most Inclosures be: The Making of the East Anglian Landscape’ in M. Gardiner and S. Rippon (eds) Landscape History after Hoskins. Medieval Landscapes, Windgather Press: Macclesfield, 122-36.
Martin, E. 2011: ‘Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex: Medieval Rural Settlement in “Greater East Anglia”’ in N. Christie and P. Stamper (eds) Medieval Rural Settlement. Britain and Ireland, AD 800-1600, Windgather Press, Oxford, 225-48.
Martin, E. and Satchell, M. 2008: Wheare most Inclosures be. East Anglian Fields: History, Morphology and Management, East Anglian Archaeology 124.
Roberts, B.K. and Wrathmell, S. 2002: Region and Place. A study of English rural settlement, English Heritage: London.
Warner, P., 1996: The Origins of Suffolk, Manchester University Press: Manchester.
Williamson, T. 2003: Shaping Medieval Landscapes. Settlement, Society, Environment, Windgather Press: Macclesfield.
Williamson, T. 2006: England’s Landscape. East Anglia, English Heritage and Collins, London.
About Edward Martin
Edward Martin worked for many years as an archaeologist with Suffolk County Council, specialising in historic landscape studies. He co-edited An Historical Atlas of Suffolk (3rd edition 1999) and has written and lectured widely on the archaeology and history of the landscape. He is a past chairman of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History and has been a regular commentator on archaeology for Radio Suffolk.
Bookings
Please phone or email to check the availability of places. Study Days are £36 per person, which includes a full day of lectures, access to the NT site, parking, coffee and tea throughout the day, and access to the NT exhibition. Once you have reserved your place please send payment to confirm the booking. For your first booking please complete the application form to ensure that we have recorded your contact details correctly.
Wuffing Education,
4 Hilly Fields,
Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4DX
tel : 01394 386498
Email cliff AT wuffingeducation.co.uk
(replace ‘AT’ by ‘@’ in order to send email – we used ‘AT‘ to avoid spam robots automatically sending us emails)