The development of some aspects of settlement and land use in Sutton Chase

Abstract

The development of unenclosed common waste, parks, hamlets, moated sites and isolated individual settlements in Sutton Chase is traced, using archaeological, documentary and environmental evidence. The value of employing a combination of different methods and sources in the study of landscape development is shown, provided their potential and limitations are critically assessed.
The largest waste areas were probably heathland by Roman times, and they were conserved through the Middle Ages as part of the hunting reserve of Sutton Chase, but following the demise of Sutton Chase in 1528, settlement and cultivation of waste areas was encouraged. Deer parks were created in parts of the study area between the 12th and 14th centuries. In the later Middle ages some of these were extended and new parks were created. Most of the hamlets and individual settlements were shown to have been in existence by the Middle Ages, but few of them were on the same sites as Roman settlements.
The relative influence of the physical environment, population fluctuations and human policy in the development of the landscape is discussed, and possible future work suggested by the results of the study is outlined.