1. Elements of the rural landscape 1:
Movement across the land
Tracks, roads, canals, railways
2. Elements of the rural landscape
• Elements of the
landscape: the things it
is built up from and
which give it its
particular character
• Some of the elements
are continuous, such as
soils, relief, land cover
• Other elements are
discrete, such as roads,
buildings, field
boundaries.
• The variations in
elements can exercise
enormous influence on
the character of the
landscape
4. The presence of transport routes
• Neolithic technology required
the use of high quality flint,
which can be traced to its
source.
• Flint tools from the Lake
District and East Anglia have
been found all over the
country, so there must have
been a transport system to
move them over. Almost
certainly on foot.
• Before rivers were managed
and land drained, huge
areas of marsh required built
wooden “roads” to give
access to farmland and
places of security. Somerset
Levels have revealed
several such walkways
5. Pre-historic transport routes
A reconstruction of the The Ridgeway over the
Sweet Track in the Marlborough Downs,
Somerset Levels, age impossible to
approx 3,600 BC establish
7. Packhorse tracks
• Few routes could be
covered by wheeled
vehicles in the middle
ages. Most goods, even
fresh foods, were
transported by Pack
horse
• Packhorse tracks are
narrow, as direct as
possible, and often
worn deep into the
landscape through
centuries of use.
8. Livestock to market
• The major Markets for
meat were London and
the south coast ports, to
supply the Navy with
salt beef and pork.
• The main fat stock
production regions were
Wales and Scotland.
• How were the cattle
transported to market?
• They walked. (Even
geese and ducks
walked)
9. Drove roads in Scotland
Image source
http://sites.scran.ac.uk/kestrel3d
10. Drove roads
• Drove roads were
continuous meadows,
fenced to keep cattle
out of farm land.
• The roads were very
wide and provided
grazing.
• Towns along the routes
provided secure village
greens were stock
rested
• If the pub is called the
Drovers arms, it is on a
drove road
11. Not just in GB
• Drove roads in
Spain used to
move between
summer and winter
pasture
• Fenced roads in
Nicaragua, where the
cattle graze, but are
kept off the farmland
13. Impact of canals on the landscape
• Canals create
unbroken lines
through the landscape
– Water
– Boat transport
– Pedestrian access
– Vegetation
– Wildlife
• Enormous potential for
livelihood generation
within the countryside.
14. Railways-the end of commercial waterways?
• Railways brought speed, almost
unlimited carrying capacity and
access to difficult terrain
• The routes are incompatible with
recreation but good for wildlife.
• Railways killed off drove roads
for moving livestock and
effectively killed off narrow canals
• Railways killed off local
vernacular architecture. All
building materials now available
everywhere
15. Impact of railways on the rural landscape
• Railways in themselves have relatively little
physical impact on the landscape, but they
brought people into the countryside.
• “Metroland”, the suburbia surrounding the big
cities, grew into the countryside along the
routes of the new 19th and 20th century rail
network
• Any transport system which brings rapid,
cheap travel will bring pressure on areas
which were once considered remote and
inaccessible.
19. Airports + cheap flights-the next pressure on the landscape
• The countryside is
the only place with
enough room for
airports
• Current pressures
in Cheshire
(Manchester) and
Essex (Stansted)
with possible
major
development in
Thames Estuary
• Cheap flights are
now available to
Cornwall from
London: £30 and
30 minutes and
you are in the
Southwest.
20. Supporting references
Rackham O. 1997 The Illustrated History of
the Countryside Phoenix
• Chapters:
– Highways
Hindle P. 2001 Roads & Tracks for Historians
Phillimore
