| Abstract: |
The results of research carried out as part of the `Gwent Levels Historic Landscape Study' funded by Cadw and the Countryside Council for Wales. This detailed examination is of the historic landscape of an area of reclaimed coastal alluvium on the northern side of the Severn Estuary in southern Wales, between Cardiff and Chepstow and south of Newport. The two largest Levels are Wentlooge and Caldicot. The first chapter presents a description of the area, including soils, relief, drainage, and methods of reclamation, followed by an introduction to the study methods. Chapter 2 describes the creation of the Levels, with the evidence from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age, while the following chapter outlines the evidence for Roman occupation on the Caldicot Level and a field drainage system on the Wentlooge Level. Evidence for the post-Roman landscape is scarce, with possibly a period of flooding. Recolonisation only occurred after the Norman Conquest, when the present historic landscape came into being, and the next chapter describes the types of historic landscapes in the Levels, with planned or irregular fields. Types of settlements and buildings are also documented, along with the type of agriculture practised and the administration of the drainage system. Chapter 5 examines socio-political changes affecting the Levels in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and then discusses the emergence of the present landscape through reclamation. Detailed examples of reclamation and recolonisation are presented, along with the development of the settlement pattern in the medieval period and the emergence of the town and port of Magor. Chapter 6 analyses the decline from the late medieval period, including climatic deterioration and flooding. The early post-medieval period saw a trend towards pastoralism, which survives today. Chapter 7 shows how the twentieth century has seen an unparalleled degree of destruction, and conclusions are given in the final chapter. |
