Books published by Windgather Press

A highly illustrated synthesis of 500 years of occupation of the Iron Age to Roman town of Calleva (Silchester).

A revised and updated second-edition exploration of hillforts.

This multidisciplinary volume of research on deer substantially advances our broader understanding of human-deer relationships in the past and the present. Themes include species dispersal, symbolic significance, and effects on the landscape.

Life in Medieval Landscapes presents new studies on key themes in the economic and social history of the medieval landscape. The book draws together papers by medieval historians and archaeologists, with contributions by leading scholars in each field. The first part explores the nature of landscape regions in Britain and Ireland. Chapters explore the use and experience of different types of landscapes including marshlands, uplands, woodland and woodpasture. The papers analyse a wide variety of sources from detailed archival work on medieval records to place-names, archaeological survey and the study of veteran trees. A particular theme in several papers is the exploration of social, economic and spatial marginality. The second part presents new studies of labour and lordship. The contributions focus on medieval England, including aspects of the land market before the Black Death, the organisation of village communities, and how changing settlements related to demography and occupations. There is a particular focus on understanding the lives of peasants and labourers. The main themes of the book reflect the interests of Professor Harold Fox, whose death in 2007 was marked by a number of conferences in different parts of the UK. The papers in this volume have been offered by Harold's colleagues, friends and former research students as a tribute to his work. They showcase some of the best research in the fields of medieval landscape and social history. Contributors include Chris Dyer, Bruce Campbell, Andrew Fleming, Della Hooke, Jem Harrison, Ros Faith, Peter Herring, Mark Gardiner, Angus Winchester, Andrew Jackson, Alan Fox, Mark Page, Mike Thompson, Mike Thornton, Matt Tompkins, Penelope Upton and Richard Jones.

Recent archaeological and historical research into the 'lost' Anglo-Saxon Pecsaetna people.

Medieval Rural Settlement: Britain and Ireland, AD 800-1600 is a major assessment and review of the origins, forms and evolutions of medieval rural settlement in Britain and Ireland across the period c. AD 800-1600. It offers 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. It is intended to be the flagship publication of the Medieval Settlement Research Group (MSRG) which has a long and distinguished history of exploring, debating and promoting research and offers systematic appraisal of 60 years' work across the whole field of medieval settlement, designed to inspire the next generation of researchers. Part I comprises a set of papers exploring the history of medieval rural settlement research in Britain and Ireland, the evolving methodologies, the roots of the medieval landscape and the place of power in these settlements and landscapes. Part II presents an extensive series of regional and national reviews detailing contexts, histories of study, forms, evolutions and future research needs. These extensive contributions also include "e;feature boxes"e; on key themes, sites to visit and main excavations in the study areas discussed. A final section provides guidance on how to research and study medieval rural sites - from laptop to test-pit. Extensively illustrated in colour and black and white, and written by expert contributors, the volume includes a comprehensive, integrated bibliography and an index. Medieval Rural Settlement: Britain and Ireland, AD 800-1600 will be essential reading for everyone researching and interested in medieval settlements and the medieval rural landscape.

This richly illustrated book tells Clarendons story, from the Neolithic through to the present. It focuses in particular on the palace and deer parks medieval heyday a time when gyrfalcons soared in pursuit of cranes, and kings hunted roebuck and wolves.

Ancient Trees in the Landscape is the outcome of many years research into the history of trees in Norfolk, and represents the first detailed, published account of the ancient and traditionally managed trees of any English county. Yet it is far more than a regional survey. It is an exploration of how trees can be studied as part of the landscape. It discusses how accurately trees can be dated; explains why old trees are found in certain contexts and not in others; discusses traditional management practices and how these changed over time; and looks at the various ways in which trees have been used in parks and gardens. Above all, it considers how trees were regarded by people in the past, and how this has affected their survival to the present. Ancient Trees in the Landscape is a fascinating and original study which sets out a new agenda in landscape history. It will be essential reading for countryside managers and conservationists, and for all those interested in landscape history, arboriculture, and the history of the English countryside.

This book discusses the 19th-century historic landscape of Devon though the creation, manipulation and querying of a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) database to examine physical evidence of change and development through field and settlement patterns.

The North Downs are a range of hills that run east-west from the south-east tip of England, at Dover in Kent, to Farnham in Surrey. They skirt the southern edge of London, so for a long time have offered Londoners beautiful countryside to escape to, or for a home to commute to work from. A hundred years ago, they were still quite remote, but London has grown, spreading onto Downland, and rail and road links have ensured that the many towns across the hills have also grown substantially in size. Despite development there is still a lot of unspoilt landscape, from farmland, to deep woods, to open grassland ridges with fantastic views across the weald of Surrey and Kent; and it is these places that are the focus of this book. North Downs Landscapes takes the reader on a journey from the White Cliffs of Dover, through the rolling Kentish farm land with its open vistas and small villages, across the River Medway at Rochester, with its' castle and cathedral, on to the wooded ridges past Sevenoaks, into Surrey and across the River Mole to explore Leith Hill, then to Guildford and the River Wey, and over the Hogs Back to Farnham.The core of this book are beautiful full-page colour photographs illustrating the beauty and distinctive landscapes of the Downs. The text explores the history, geography, geology and ecology of the countryside and some of its towns and villages. Together photographs and text capture the character and atmosphere of a special part of the British Isles.

A new assessment of early Christianity in south-west Britain from the 4th-10th centuries.

An interdisciplinary composite cultural biography of the St John's Cross on Iona and its copies.

Comprising nineteen papers taken from a conference held at Worcester College, Oxford in 2000, this book focuses on the less-studied smaller, more rural trading centres and inland markets of Northern Europe. New in paperback.

Since 1972 UNESCO has been compiling a list of World Heritage sites, worthy of protection and conservation for the long-term. Written by someone who has been involved with the selection of sites for UNESCO, this book presents a personal insight into the process and what inspires and guides the decision-making of its members.

Gardom's Edge is an area of gritstone upland situated on the Eastern Moors of the Derbyshire Peak District. Like other parts of the Eastern Moors, Gardom's Edge has long been renowned for the wealth of prehistoric field systems, cairns and other structures which can still be traced across the surface.  Drawing on the results of original survey and excavation, An Upland Biography documents prehistoric activity across this area, exploring the changing character of occupation from the Mesolithic to the Iron Age. It also tacks back and forth between local detail and regional patterns, to better understand the broader social worlds in which Gardom's Edge was set.

Lavishly illustrated study of nearly 100 gardens in Derbyshire from the fabulously wealthy stately home to the smallest hidden delights; considers the importance of gardens in Derbyshire Spa towns; discusses the role of inherited and new wealth of the industrial revolution on the design of both private estates and public gardens

Presents a multi-disciplinary approach to the relationship between perceptions of enviornmental change at a local scale and the wider forces of transformation, addressing influential ways of understanding and debating questions of 'the state of nature'.