Landscapes 6 (1)

The article presents evidence from excavations to support the argument that the basic framework of the medieval landscape had prehistoric or Roman origins. It suggests that the distinctive `co-axial' furlong patterns found in parts of north Norfolk may in part have developed from organised field systems of late prehistoric or Roman date.

Parliamentary enclosure is generally discussed in terms of the removal of open field arable and lowland commons. However, extensive areas of upland commons were also enclosed under parliamentary act in the uplands of northern England. The article examines the context and character of parliamentary enclosure in this region with a focus on Cumbria. It considers the amount and timing of enclosure, the distinctive aspects of the work of the commissioners in upland areas and the characteristic features of enclosure landscapes among the fells.

The proliferation of planned villages in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Scotland was directly related to the social and economic era referred to as the Enlightenment. The article examines the functional characteristics of these planned villages and presents a case study of southwest Scotland, where villages with a diverse range of functions were developed between approximately 1730 and 1855 at coastal and inland sites. The author argues that these villages were dynamic settlements whose characteristics, functions and position within the local urban and economic hierarchies changed, often over short periods of time, and that their functional characteristics were more complex than has previously been suggested.