Swaledale - Andrew Fleming

This is a reprint of the first edition, published in 1998 by
Edinburgh University Press. Now with an updated preface and
colour illustrations throughout, this beautiful book tells the
story of Swaledale, a well-loved part of the North Yorkshire
Pennines. It shows how the perspectives of archaeology, history
and ecology can be linked to transform our understanding of the
landscape. Starting from the contemporary framework of the landscape with
its stone walls, field barns and hay meadows - characteristic
features which seem to reflect a way of life which has been here
since time immemorial - the author shows that this classic
Pennine landscape holds clues to the very different character of
the landscapes of the past. Behind the small family farm of
recent centuries lies the more communal way of life of the
medieval townships, the landscape of the Norse settlers, the Dark
Age kingdom of Swar, and the fields and farms of the Iron Age and
the Roman period.Illustrated with line drawings and photographs, this illuminating
and extremely readable book reveals Swaledale's history and
archaeology, layer by layer. Earthworks, place-name patterns,
ancient walls and cairns on the moors, pollard trees, old maps,
footpaths, humps and bumps in the fields; all emerge with a story
to tell.