Search results for: layers-of-history

Aswarby Park, near Sleaford. (HEGrade II). Study the detail from this 1906 Ordnance Survey (OS): Detail of 1906 Ordnance Survey map, available on line at the Nation Library of Scotland…

William Stukeley’s drawing ‘A View of Aserby (Aswarby) July 1730’ (image held in the collection of the Bodleian Library) Here is a designed view north in Aswarby Park towards a…

EXTRACTS from a Lincolnshire Gardens Trust site survey Courtesy researcher/recorder Sue Barlow. Location: Aswarby Park, Aswarby, Lincolnshire, NG34 8SD OS grid reference, TF 064 399 Parish, Historic County and District:…

The landscape in Roman Period was studied by the Holbeach-born antiquarian Dr William Stukeley (1687-1765). Here his early 18C map features the main elements: roads, dykes, rivers and settlement. William…

William Stukeley’s 1724 drawing shows the embanked Roman road, Ermine Street south of Ancaster, with only a scattering of trees in the surrounding countryside and heathland. He recorded “…all the…

To get you into a detective frame of mind, first study this photograph: Think about: How can you tell that this a man-made, designed landscape? Is it formal or informal…

Maze The labyrinth or maze is associated with Greek mythology, but the Romans introduced the patterns into their gardens. They were interested in location, any site with uninterrupted views. A…

Mount Artificial hills or mounts, (smaller than ancient barrows) created a welcome diversion and change in levels, especially in flat fenland. They were often situated at the corners of the…

Walls Stone walling encloses many old gardens. The east stonewall in the Medieval Bishop’s Palace Garden in Lincoln, is Roman, the north wall is Medieval. Some mellow brick garden walls…

Arch The Romans introduced stone arches as entrances and gateways, for example Newport Arch in Lincoln. Stone and brick arches became features in gardens. In the 18C at Coleby Hall,…

Garth Monastic gardens featured decorative Norman Gothic arches and gates with the same architectural details as in church abbeys, priories. Cloister gardens or garths were peaceful courtyard enclosures of retreat…

Moat A defensive moat surrounded many a medieval manor house and castle for security but also as a larder for storing fish and attracting wildfowl. Former moats can still be…

Tudor Gardens By the Tudor period, foreign trees were brought in by overseas traders to shade delightful, scented herb ‘potagers’ and enclosed, private physic gardens, reminiscent of the cloistered garths…

Canal Since the Roman era, stretches of river have been canalised. The River Welland, for instance was canalised as far as Stamford for navigation, trade and industry. Canalised River Welland at…

Pigeoncote / Dovecote In the grounds of both monastery and manor house, a pigeoncote was built to ensure a regular food supply. The law allowed only the Lord of the…

Raised Terraces and Walks Terraces were built in the direction north to south from the Tudor period onwards, often with rubble from previous houses and spoil from digging out fishponds…

16C Elizabethan Gardens – Knot Gardens An intricate parterre or ‘knot-garden’, edged by clipped, low box hedging, was designed to be admired from the hall windows. Most Renaissance knot gardens…

17C Manor House deer parks, gardens & orchards Land slowly devolved from royal control. Ownership of deer parks, once the prerogative of the monarch, became more widely permissible. Belton Park…

Baroque Gardens The Baroque garden style began appearing in Britain during the Stuart era (1603-1714) influenced by contemporary French and Dutch styles of gardening. Formal gardens became supersized, and fancy,…

Restoration Gardens Restored King Charles II was desperate to emulate his French cousin Louis XIV with awe-inspiring displays of wealth. He did not have the money to follow through on…

Obelisk Obelisk in Ayscoughfee Hall gardens (Image: Steffie Shields) Owners increasingly sought to add meaning to their gardens. The obelisk is typical of iconography often seen in early 18C gardens…

Early 18C Decoy Designed decoys were developed during the 18C. Skellingthorpe Decoy (HE Grade II) and landing pond west of Lincoln. Plan of Skellingthorpe Decoy (Image: Steffie Shields) This pond…

Lakes In the rising popularity and as part of improvements for more natural-looking landscape settings 18C clay dams were constructed to create large ornamental lakes within their parks, sometimes form…

The Approach Often the approach to a historic house denotes the period and style of the park and gardens. For instance, in the early 18C, Sedgebrook Manor was converted into…

Ha Ha A surprising 18 C device was introduced usually 8 feet deep, to separate and secure the gardens from grazing park livestock, and to assist drainage, hence the amusing…

Holloway The 18C saw a rise in road-making and earth-moving to improve estates. In 1771, as part of a grand plan for Brocklesby, ‘Capability’ Brown designed a ‘holloway’. The road…

What Survives Today Exercise Take the following questionnaire for a walk around your village, see if you can spot any of the relics we have discussed, and see if you…

What survives today Topic 6: Footpaths and Field boundaries While looking around for early settlement remains, it is worth looking at footpaths and field boundaries. Enclosed fields Early enclosed fields…

What survives today Topic 5: Moats Another key earthwork feature from the medieval period is the moat. Many of these survive today as shaped ponds surrounding one or more sides…

What survives today Topic 4: Fields Looking at the fields within and around a settlement can also provide clues to its medieval past. Humps and Bumps A lot of these…

What survives today Topic 3: Village Ponds Village and field ponds are features of the medieval landscape that have often disappeared from modern settlements. However, they can still be found…

What survives today Topic 2: Crosses and Greens Crosses As has already been noted above, medieval village crosses often survive in Lincolnshire. Some of these may be within the church…

What survives today Topic 1: Churches The most common and obvious medieval building found in villages, towns and cities is the church. This was an important community building and often…

Looking Further Afield Exercise Using the following questionnaire as a prompt, have a look at Google maps and the National Library of Scotland Ordnance Survey maps and see if you…

Topic 6: Settlement Hierarchy The overall pattern of settlement can be characterised as a settlement hierarchy ranging from single farmsteads up to cities. The larger the settlement size, the fewer will…

Topic 5: Land Divisions Now, we need to set that individual story in the context of pattern of Lincolnshire’s medieval settlement as a whole. By the time of the Norman…

Topic 4: State Documents State documents such as the poll tax returns of 1377 and the diocesan returns of 1563 may not provide much detail about the layout of the…

Looking Further Afield Topic 2: Ordnance Survey Maps To take a look at how the village was laid out before the creation of the airfield, it is a good idea…

Monasteries, manors & economic powerhouses Topic 5: Monasteries The main phase of monastery building in Lincolnshire took place during the 12th century. Wealthy land owners gifted manors to religious orders…

Monasteries, manors & economic powerhouses Topic 4: Landlords Whilst the lands held by secular (non-religious) landlords were administrated by the manorial system, the lands held by the church and the…

Monasteries, manors & economic powerhouses Topic 3: Deer Parks During the medieval period, a number of manors were granted the right to create deer parks. These were usually close to,…

Monasteries, manors & economic powerhouses Topic 2: Milling One of the rights that the manor would hold, is the right to own a mill and mill grain. Water mills The…

Monasteries, manors & economic powerhouses Topic 1: Manors There is a tendency, when talking about medieval manors, to think simply in terms of the sites of manor houses. While manor…

Lost and Shrunken Villages Exercise Look at the following questionnaire and see if you can find out about a deserted medieval village near you. download printable sheet

Lost and Shrunken Villages Topic 3: Medieval Dwellings Long Houses The principle form of medieval dwelling in rural Lincolnshire was the hall house, often referred to as the long house. This…

Lost and Shrunken Villages Topic 2: Identifying a deserted village Today, shrunken and deserted medieval villages can often be identified by the occasional surviving building or habitation and the humps…

Lost and Shrunken Villages Topic 1: The Great Famine The period of relative climatic warmth experienced by the northern hemisphere, known as the medieval warm period, came to an end…

Discovering the Medieval Origins of your Village Exercise Fill in the following questionnaire about your village, using the sources of information described in the lesson: download printable sheet

Discovering the Medieval Origins of your Village Topic 2: The Domesday Book Having established the ancient origin of a settlement, we can now look at one of the most significant…

Discovering the Medieval Origins of your Village Topic 1: Place Names The first thing to look at is the place name. The origin and meaning of a place name, whether…

Topic 9: Cold War During the cold war, civil defence was subject to considerable changes in ideology and implementation. Initially the principles and practice that had been developed during the Second…

Topic 8: Thor Program Although there were delays to the development of Britain’s Rockets as a means of delivering nuclear weapons, Thor rockets were delivered from America starting in 1959, and…

Topic 7: V-Force Planes Development on planes to carry Britain’s nuclear deterrent resulted in the adoption of the V-force planes; Valient, Vulcan and Victor. Large, powerful jet bombers, these required larger…

Topic 6: Post War Landscape As the war progressed, the threat of invasion receded and as the allies pressed the German forces in Europe so did the threat of aerial attack.…

Topic 5: Impact On Agriculture The Second World War also had an impact on agriculture in Lincolnshire. In 1941 the government undertook the National Farm survey, effectively assuming control of agricultural…

Topic 4: Defensive Structures The initial strategy adopted was one of static defence composed of a strong Coastal Crust with additional Stop Lines to the rear. This was most rigorously done…

Topic 3: World War 2 On the 3rd September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany. The Second World War, like the previous war, was to have an immediate and significant impact…

Topic 2: Threat Of Aerial Attack In the 1930s, German re-armament caused a public scandal in Britain, and changes in military policy ensued. By 1938 there was an expectation of war…

Topic 1: Post World War 1 Era It is a popular perception that the First World War ended on 11th of November 1918 and peace descended on Europe. The reality is…

Topic 8: 18th Century Warfare Although the militia were involved in the Jacobite wars of the 18th century, it is likely that the effect of Lincolnshire was slight and not long…

Topic 7: Civil War Charles I attempted to raise an army from the county trained bands for his war in Scotland, which ended in humiliation for the King. The political…

Topic 6: Mustering Forces During the reigns of Edward VI and Mary troops were raised in support of the monarchs, against rebels in the north and east of England. The…

Topic 5: Fortifications During the 1530s and 40s, Henry VIII undertook a program of fortification along Britain’s coast. However, although there were substantial fortifications built at Hull, and lesser works…

Gunpowder Warfare Topic 4: Lincolnshire Rising One series of events that did have a direct impact on Lincolnshire was the Lincolnshire Rising in 1536 and the Pilgrimage of Grace that followed…

Topic 3: War At Sea Another indicator of the war at sea from this time may be found in the inscribed images of Greatships that can be found on the…

Topic 2: Wars in Scotland and France The reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII were dominated by wars in Scotland and France. Whilst these did not directly impact the county…

Topic 1: 13th to 15th Century Although gunpowder weapons were used from the end of the 13th century onward, their use in large numbers for mass effect wasn’t fully established until…

Medieval Warfare Topic 6: Fifteenth Century Conflicts In the fifteenth century, two conflicts appear to have affected Lincolnshire at the same time. Wars of the Roses The dynastic conflict known as…

Medieval Warfare Topic 5: Peasants’ Revolt To date, little evidence has been found of the peasants’ revolt in Lincolnshire. However, as the revolt could be seen as a symptom of…

Medieval Warfare Topic 4: Second Barons’ War The Second Barons’ War (1264 to 1267) was fought between a baronial oligarchy lead by Simon de Montfort against the Loyalist forces of Henry…

Medieval Warfare Topic 3: First Barons’ War The First Barons’ War (1215 to 1217) saw conflict between King John and his nobles, and an attempt to seize the throne by Prince…

Medieval Warfare Topic 2: Dynastic Conflicts The medieval period saw a number of dynastic conflicts beginning with The Anarchy of the 12th century (1135 to 1154). This was initially a civil…

Medieval Warfare Topic 1: Norman Conquest Medieval warfare covers the period of the Norman conquest through to the massed use of gunpowder weapons. The beginning of medieval warfare occurs in…

Ancient Warfare Topic 5: Vikings Around the end of the 9th century, Viking raids began on the east coast, and Lincolnshire was unlikely to have been spared. Defended houses and…

Ancient Warfare Topic 4: Anglo Saxons During the fifth century Lincolnshire was subject to periods of raiding and settlement by a diverse group of peoples described as Anglo-Saxons, and coalesced…

Ancient Warfare Topic 3: Roman Occupation Infrastructure For the first time, Lincolnshire had to support a standing army, with military infrastructure expanding across the landscape with a network of roads…

Ancient Warfare Topic 2: Iron Age As the Bronze Age progressed, swords and shields developed, and in the Iron Age we see the first landscape features in the form of…

Ancient Warfare Topic 1: Bronze Age Ancient warfare covers a period from the earliest times through to the end of the Anglo-Saxon period. Little is known about conflict in the…

Topic 15: Post War Turmoil In July 1918 the allies succeeded in halting the German offensive and began to push them back, attacking the Hindenburg Line in September. In October the…

Topic 14: Conscription As the war progressed, further demands were made of the British people and of the county of Lincolnshire. With the war continuing on multiple fronts and casualties mounting,…

Topic 13: Rolls Of Honour The combined effect of enemy action and the British war effort had an enormous impact on the lives of everyone in the county, far more than…

Topic 12: North Sea War As a coastal county, Lincolnshire was immediately connected to events in the North Sea. The first submarine attacks began in August 1914 and in November 1914…

Topic 11: Volunteer Army Whilst the rush to volunteer for the New Army was welcomed by the government, another glut of volunteers were viewed less favourably. Despite the reforms of…

Topic 10: Auxiliary Hospitals At the beginning of the war, the British Red Cross and the St John’s Ambulance began a joint project with the Government to recruit volunteer staff, select…

Topic 9: Women’s Land Army Farming saw a slight reduction in its workforce with many young men volunteering for military service. However, as the majority of the workforce was composed of…

Topic 8: First World War Unlike previous wars, the opening of the First World War had a profound and immediate effect on the civilian population. As a result of the Government’s…

Topic 7: Pals Battalions In 1914, the ongoing power struggle in the Balkans escalated into a major political crisis in Europe, and ultimately in war. Britain declared war on Germany on…

Topic 6: Expeditionary Force In the aftermath of the Boer War a number of enquiries began into the condition of Britain’s armed forces. At the same time, British foreign policy underwent…

Topic 5: Second Boer War Overseas service in the late 19th century was very much the preserve of the regular army, with the 10th Lincolnshire Infantry Regiment being no exception. However,…

Topic 4: Fear Of Invasion From 1871 onward, Britain was gripped by a series of public scares concerning possible invasion by foreign powers, terrorists and even Martians. While these were mostly…

Topic 3: Crimean War The Crimean War (1853-1856) exposed a multiplicity of defects in the British armed forces, and demands were made for reform. The most noticeable impact of these reforms…

Topic 2: 19th Century Warfare One effect of the wars overseas was an increased demand on the county’s industry and an increased use of the river and canal system, which…