Hurst, J. D. (2004). Fuel supply and the medieval salt industry in Droitwich. Trans Worcestershire Archaeol Soc 19 ((Third series)). Vol 19, pp. 111-132.

Title:

Fuel supply and the medieval salt industry in Droitwich

Issue:

Trans Worcestershire Archaeol Soc 19 ((Third series))

Series:

Transactions of the Worcestershire Archaeological Society

Volume:

Page Start/End:

111 - 132

Biblio Note

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Publication Type:

Journal

Abstract:

The author discusses the large quantity of fuel consumed by the Droitwich salt industry, and the pressure this must have placed on woodland in the locality. A direct link between salt production and fuel supply in some Domesday Book references is discussed, as well as late-fourteenth-century accounts recording the production of salt for Westwood Priory, which are used to estimate the amount of firewood consumed yearly by the whole industry and its possible equivalent in terms of woodland area. It is argued that this large-scale use of firewood suggests that the salt industry would have been a major influence on the surrounding countryside, and that the documentary sources indicate that this was especially the case for north Worcestershire. The author suggests that here the survival of woodland into the medieval period may have been partly as a result of woodland management directed at supplying the salt industry. Includes

Author:

J D Hurst

Year of Publication:

2004

Subjects / Periods:

Salt (Auto Detected Subject)
MEDIEVAL (Historic England Periods)
Salt Industry (Auto Detected Subject)

Source:

BIAB (The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB))

Created Date:

27 May 2005