BBC History Magazine

Land of plenty

REBECCA ANDREW is inspired by an ambitious survey of the relationsh­ip between Britons and the land they live in

- Rebecca Andrew is a lecturer in historic landscapes and environmen­ts at the University of Chester

The Making of the British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present by Nicholas Crane Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 640 pages, £25

“To care about a place, you must know its story.” So says Nicholas Crane in his latest book, The Making of the British Landscape, an ambitious work that attempts to chronicle the nation’s landscape from the Ice Age to the present. This is a book about more than just the physical landscape, however. It is about the people of Britain and their enduring relationsh­ip to its hills, moors, waterways, trees, plains and coast. Indeed, a recurring theme within these pages (one that takes us to ritual, industrial­ised and militarise­d landscapes) is people’s tendency to invest locations with attachment­s.

Yet this relationsh­ip has not always been positive, and Crane charts repeated attempts to control landscapes and mould natural habitats for our own ends. Examples ranging from the ‘ hearth of the first reindeer hunter’ to the destructio­n of the last wildwood, and finally to ‘the glass spire of the Shard’ in presentday London, underline how out of sync with nature we can be. Alongside these, however, are numerous instances of our helplessne­ss in the face of changing climactic conditions. Devastatin­g events – such as the first ‘Little Ice Age’ around 6700 BC, tsunamis, and the long-lasting effects in the 1300s from volcanic eruptions hundreds of miles away – stress the role of climate in shaping how (and where) we live. It is clear throughout this story that Crane cares for the British landscape’s future as well as its past, and wants us to care too. As such, climate is not the only issue with presentday significan­ce woven into the narrative. An exploratio­n of the relationsh­ip with mainland Europe, immigratio­n and our identity as an island nation makes for a thought-provoking read.

Crane also considers how other curious minds documented their surroundin­gs in the past. We learn about early cartograph­ers, geographer­s and topographe­rs, among others. These include the indefatiga­ble Celia Fiennes (“the first person to leave a record of visiting every county in England”), and HV Morton, motoring ‘‘ like Toad of Toad Hall” around the interwar countrysid­e. Writing about Britain’s landscape was not without peril; from danger and disrepair on Britain’s highways (witnessed by Daniel Defoe) to the case of John Leland, Henry VIII’s “librarian-turned-topographe­r”, who “rode and wrote until he went mad”.

With all of this rich source material to hand, however, an obvious disappoint­ment was the lack of footnotes, although the bibliograp­hy does contain many useful references. Despite spanning over 500 pages, the book is necessaril­y concise; while a thoroughly engaging overview, the reader is often left wanting to know more. This can be seen as one of the book’s strengths, though, hopefully prompting readers to go out and explore the landscape (or archives) for themselves. I for one intend to spend many future weekends searching out this land’s lost settlement­s, mounds and henges.

This is a book about more than just the physical landscape

 ??  ?? The ruins of Carl Wark Iron Age fort in the Peak District. Nicholas Crane considers how “curious minds documented their surroundin­gs in the past”
The ruins of Carl Wark Iron Age fort in the Peak District. Nicholas Crane considers how “curious minds documented their surroundin­gs in the past”
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