Medieval Rural Settlement
Britain and Ireland, AD 800-1600
2nd Edition
Will be published approx. on 18. September 2026
Book
Hardback
416 pages
978-1-914427-49-7 (ISBN)
Description
The first edition of Medieval Rural Settlement: Britain and Ireland, AD 800-1600 was a major assessment and review of the origins, forms and evolutions of medieval rural settlement in Britain and Ireland across the period AD 800-1600. It offered a comprehensive analysis of early to late medieval settlement, land use, economics and population, bringing together evidence drawn from archaeological excavations and surveys, historical geographical analysis and documentary and place-name study.
This new edition does not break from the core ingredients of the first, notably in targeting up-to-date analyses of regional archaeologies, but does introduce a new section of contributions that look specifically at economic issues, and also identifies the impact of new survey technologies, plus the growing value of Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) finds and analyses. This new edition also draws on more recent research on historical sources, place-names and standing buildings, and through the definitive publication of earlier major projects (Wharram, Faxton and Burton Dassett Southend).
As with the first edition, contributions come from academics, field archaeologists, heritage and museum staff associated with the Medieval Settlement Research Group (MSRG). The MSRG is a long-established and nationally and internationally recognised grouping of scholars who have explored and advanced understanding of rural settlement, land use, buildings, geomorphologies and environments across Britain and Ireland primarily for the periods encompassed between c. AD 450-1550.
This new edition does not break from the core ingredients of the first, notably in targeting up-to-date analyses of regional archaeologies, but does introduce a new section of contributions that look specifically at economic issues, and also identifies the impact of new survey technologies, plus the growing value of Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) finds and analyses. This new edition also draws on more recent research on historical sources, place-names and standing buildings, and through the definitive publication of earlier major projects (Wharram, Faxton and Burton Dassett Southend).
As with the first edition, contributions come from academics, field archaeologists, heritage and museum staff associated with the Medieval Settlement Research Group (MSRG). The MSRG is a long-established and nationally and internationally recognised grouping of scholars who have explored and advanced understanding of rural settlement, land use, buildings, geomorphologies and environments across Britain and Ireland primarily for the periods encompassed between c. AD 450-1550.
More details
Edition
2nd ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
200 B/W and colour illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 185 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-914427-49-7 (9781914427497)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Neil Christie is Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the School of Archaeology & Ancient History at the University of Leicester and has a sizeable publication record exploring themes ranging from Late Antiquity to late Roman and early medieval urbanism, rural transformations across AD 400-1200, and defence. Publications include many monographs and edited works, notably the first edition (co-edited with Paul Stamper) of Medieval Rural Settlement: Britain and Ireland, AD 800-1600 (2012). He has wide field experience, including in Italy, Spain and England, with a major AHRC-funded project centred on the historic townscape and landscape of Wallingford (Oxon). He has long connections with the Medieval Settlement Research Group (MSRG), serving for extended spells as both Secretary and Reviews Editor. Paul Stamper worked first in the 1980s for VCH Shropshire, then for 20 years with English Heritage/Historic England, and since 2016 as a freelance heritage consultant. He has been a member of the Medieval Settlement Research Group since the 1970s, and is a past President. Alongside the day job he has excavated on a number of medieval village sites, notably Wharram Percy, and taught landscape history at universities including Bristol and Leicester. He is also a Visiting Faculty at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (Virginia, USA). With Neil Christie he co-edited the first edition of Medieval Rural Settlement: Britain and Ireland, AD 800-1600 (2012). Until 2015, Stuart Wrathmell was head of the Archaeology, Archive and Ecology Services for West Yorkshire. He has been a member of the MSRG and its predecessor groups for over 50 years, serving recently as its President, and currently as a Vice-President. He has published numerous articles and monographs on rural settlements, most recently on evidence for Scandinavian settlement in Yorkshire during the late 9th and 10th centuries. He edited the definitive publications of the deserted medieval village excavations at Wharram Percy, North Yorkshire, culminating in the 13th volume in the series A History of Wharram Percy and its Neighbours, published in 2012.
Content
Foreword - Dawn Hadley
Editors' Acknowledgements
List of Contributors
The MSRG
List of Figures
List of Tables
Part I - Contexts, Chronologies and Forms
1. Introduction: Medieval Rural Settlement Research: Emergence, Examination and Engagement
Neil Christie, Mark Gardiner and Paul Stamper
2. The Development of the Study of Medieval Rural Settlements, 1880-2025
Christopher Dyer and Paul Everson
3. Methodological Approaches to Medieval Rural Settlements and Landscapes
Stephen Rippon, Della Hooke and Elaine Jamieson
4. The Prehistory of Medieval Farms and Villages and the Impact of the Scandinavians, c. AD 800 to 1000
Dawn Hadley and Gabor Thomas
5. Seigneurial and Elite Sites in the Medieval Landscape
Oliver H. Creighton and Duncan W. Wright
Part II - Regional and National Surveys
6. South-East England: Forms and Diversity in Medieval Rural Settlement
Andrew Margetts
7. Central Southern England: Medieval Rural Settlement and Land Use
David A. Hinton
8. Medieval Rural Settlements of South-West England
Sam Turner, Rob Wilson-North and Peter Herring
9. Wales: Rural Settlements and Land Use, c. AD 800-1500
Rhiannon Comeau with Andrew Seaman
10. Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex: Medieval Rural Settlement in 'Greater East Anglia'
Edward Martin
11. Medieval Settlements in Rural Cambridgeshire: New Insights
Susan Oosthuizen, with Carenza Lewis
12. The Western Midlands: Rural Settlements in the Middle Ages
Benjamin Morton and Christopher Dyer
13. Medieval Rural Settlement in the Eastern Midlands: Reviewing Recent Investigations, New Thinking and Emerging Themes
Carenza Lewis, with Mathew Morris and Paul Stamper
14. Northern England: The Origins and Development of Medieval Rural Communities
Stuart Wrathmell, with John Castling and David Jones
15. Scotland's Medieval Countryside: Evidence, Interpretation, Perception
John A. Atkinson and Chris Dalglish, with Elaine Jamieson
16. Ireland: Medieval Identities, Settlement and Land Use
Audrey Horning
Part III - Exploring the Built and Lived Economies and Material Cultures of Medieval Rural Sites and Landscapes
17. An Archaeology of Medieval Rural Houses
Mark Gardiner, with Edward Martin
18. Economies of the Medieval Rural Landscape: Fields, Crops and Animals
Mark McKerracher, Susan Oosthuizen and Matilda Holmes, with Fiona Beglane, Bethany Revell and Catherine Smith
19. Medieval Material Culture, Rural Communities and Landscapes in England (1100-1550)
Ben Jervis and Michael Lewis
20. Town and Countryside: Relationships and Resemblances
Christopher Dyer and Keith Lilley
Bibliography
Index
Editors' Acknowledgements
List of Contributors
The MSRG
List of Figures
List of Tables
Part I - Contexts, Chronologies and Forms
1. Introduction: Medieval Rural Settlement Research: Emergence, Examination and Engagement
Neil Christie, Mark Gardiner and Paul Stamper
2. The Development of the Study of Medieval Rural Settlements, 1880-2025
Christopher Dyer and Paul Everson
3. Methodological Approaches to Medieval Rural Settlements and Landscapes
Stephen Rippon, Della Hooke and Elaine Jamieson
4. The Prehistory of Medieval Farms and Villages and the Impact of the Scandinavians, c. AD 800 to 1000
Dawn Hadley and Gabor Thomas
5. Seigneurial and Elite Sites in the Medieval Landscape
Oliver H. Creighton and Duncan W. Wright
Part II - Regional and National Surveys
6. South-East England: Forms and Diversity in Medieval Rural Settlement
Andrew Margetts
7. Central Southern England: Medieval Rural Settlement and Land Use
David A. Hinton
8. Medieval Rural Settlements of South-West England
Sam Turner, Rob Wilson-North and Peter Herring
9. Wales: Rural Settlements and Land Use, c. AD 800-1500
Rhiannon Comeau with Andrew Seaman
10. Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex: Medieval Rural Settlement in 'Greater East Anglia'
Edward Martin
11. Medieval Settlements in Rural Cambridgeshire: New Insights
Susan Oosthuizen, with Carenza Lewis
12. The Western Midlands: Rural Settlements in the Middle Ages
Benjamin Morton and Christopher Dyer
13. Medieval Rural Settlement in the Eastern Midlands: Reviewing Recent Investigations, New Thinking and Emerging Themes
Carenza Lewis, with Mathew Morris and Paul Stamper
14. Northern England: The Origins and Development of Medieval Rural Communities
Stuart Wrathmell, with John Castling and David Jones
15. Scotland's Medieval Countryside: Evidence, Interpretation, Perception
John A. Atkinson and Chris Dalglish, with Elaine Jamieson
16. Ireland: Medieval Identities, Settlement and Land Use
Audrey Horning
Part III - Exploring the Built and Lived Economies and Material Cultures of Medieval Rural Sites and Landscapes
17. An Archaeology of Medieval Rural Houses
Mark Gardiner, with Edward Martin
18. Economies of the Medieval Rural Landscape: Fields, Crops and Animals
Mark McKerracher, Susan Oosthuizen and Matilda Holmes, with Fiona Beglane, Bethany Revell and Catherine Smith
19. Medieval Material Culture, Rural Communities and Landscapes in England (1100-1550)
Ben Jervis and Michael Lewis
20. Town and Countryside: Relationships and Resemblances
Christopher Dyer and Keith Lilley
Bibliography
Index