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Professor Carenza Lewis - Brave new world or toil and trouble? The long view of new towns
- 1. Brave new world or toil and trouble? The long view of new towns Carenza Lewis Professor for the Public Understanding of Research
- 2. York in AD 780: Alcuin's poem ....My heart is set to praise my home And briefly tell the ancient cradling Of York's famed city through the charms of verse. It was a Roman army built it first , High-walled and towered, and made the native tribes Of Britain allied partners in the task – For then a prosperous Britain rightly bore The rule of Rome whose sceptre ruled the world – To be a merchant-town of land and sea, A mighty stonghold for their governors, An Empire's pride and terror to its foes, A haven for the ships from distant ports Across the ocean, where the sailor hastes To cast his rope ashore and stay to rest. The city is watered by the fish-rich Ouse Which flows past flowery plains on every side; And hills and forests beautify the earth And make a lovely dwelling-place, whose health And richness soon will fill it full of men. The best of realms and people round came there In hope of gain, to seek in that rich earth For riches, there to make both home and gain. Alcuin of York c. 735 – 804) Early ninth century sceat of Edwine, minted at York
- 3. We are the music makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers And sitting by desolate streams;— World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. With wonderful deathless ditties, we build up the world's great cities. And out of a fabulous story, we fashion an empire's glory. One man, with a dream, at pleasure shall go forth and conquer a crown. And three, with a new song's measure can trample an empire down. We, in the ages lying, in the buried past of the Earth, built Nineveh with our sighing and Babel itself with our mirth. And o'erthrew them with prophesying to the old of the New World's worth. For each age is a dream that is dying, or one that is coming to birth Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy 1844 -1881 Nineveh
- 5. What is a town? Archaeological definition (V Gordon Childe) 1. Large size in area and population 2. Presence of full-time specialists, eg craftsmen 3. Redistributive centre for taxation of food producers to support specialists 4. Monumental public buildings 5. Ruling groups of religious, civil and military character 6. Systems of recording 7. Elaboration of sciences such as maths and astronomy 8. Sophisticated art styles 9. Long-distance trade 10. Organised groups of craft workers
- 6. • To be defined a town a settlement must have: – Larger and denser concentrations of population than surrounding areas – High proportion of population not engaged in agriculture. – Redistributive/commercial role for surrounding rural region • Many medieval towns also have: – Public buildings – churches, guildhalls – Formal market place – Regularly laid-out street plan – Town walls – Suburbs What does a town look like?
- 7. New towns – A British history All towns were once new towns 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 towns Roman Anglo-Saxon 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century
- 8. Multi-period towns Single-period towns
- 9. New towns – A British history
- 10. Gosbecks/Camulodunum/Colchester Kelheim (Bavaria, Germany) Maiden Castle (Dorset) BT – before Towns…
- 11. (Pitts, M 2010. Rethinking Southern British Oppida) BT – before Towns…
- 12. Chysauster Romano-British village What have the Romans ever done for us?...
- 13. Silchester (Berkshire) What have the Romans ever done for us?...
- 14. Wroxeter What have the Romans ever done for us?...
- 15. 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Disturbed levels 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Pirton 2007-10 Test pits containing pottery dating to 1 st – mid 5 th century AD N After the empire - dark earth… …
- 16. 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Disturbed levels 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Pirton 2007-10 Test pits containing pottery dating to mid 5 th – mid 9 th century AD N
- 17. Roman pottery (50 – 400AD) in Wimpole Early/mid Anglo-Saxon pottery (450-850 AD Wimpole (Cambs)
- 18. Light at the end of the dark earth tunnel?…Hamwic (Hants) c. 700 – mid C9th 100 acres Pop 2-3,000 Planned plots Gravelled streets Craft production – metal, textiles, glass 18% imported pottery
- 20. Later C9th Alfredian burhs in Wessex Mercian burhs founded by Ethelred & Aethelflaed Five boroughs of the Danelaw (Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford) Late Anglo-Saxon – burghs New towns – A British history
- 21. Lydford Late Anglo-Saxon – burghs New towns – A British history Wallingford More than 30 burghs across Alfredian Wessex No settlement should be more than 20 miles from a burgh, Burghs connected by a network of army road (herepaths) Secondary role as safe economic centres in which trade and production could take place The local fyrd were responsible for the construction and defence of their burh.
- 23. Medieval towns 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 towns Roman Anglo-Saxon 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century
- 24. Medieval town definition (After Maurice Beresford) Any place with one or more of: • a borough charter; • named as a burgus in assize rolls; • burgage plots; • separate taxation as borough; • Market?
- 25. Features of medieval towns • Market places • Dense habitation • Planned layouts • Waterfronts • Defences • Specialised institutions
- 26. Town plans - linear St Ives, Cambs
- 27. C13th Church Close, Hartlepool
- 29. 4. Town plans – circular - ? • Bristol • Canterbury • Chester
- 31. Components of towns - Waterfronts Saxon and Medieval waterfront reclamation, London
- 35. Specialised institutions • Castles – secondary and primary New Buckenham Norwich
- 38. Specialised institutions Guildhalls and craft specialists
- 39. Specialised institutions Guildhalls and craft specialists St Georges Guildhall, Kings Lynn
- 40. Life in towns Poultry Cross, London, Norman period
- 41. Life in towns Aberdeen
- 42. • Standards of living – urban v rural • Predominance of excavated/salvaged ‘exotic’ objects from towns long used to suggest higher living standards in towns, this now questioned by evidence from metal detecting. • Excavations show town dwellers consumed more meat than rural populations (Albarella) • More younger animal bone found in towns than on rural settlements – shows urban pops had better meat, with rural pops eating older animals (Dyer Standards 196-7) • Spitalfields C14th cemetery - low levels of diseases caused by dietary deficiencies such as rickets or scurvy, suggesting urban diet better than had previously been thought.
- 43. • Rising urban populations led to overcrowding and declining sanitary conditions (plague in C14th, Typhus from late C15th) • Poorer urban housing lacked water supply or lavatories – Perth – single-roomed wattle houses with shared lavatories; – Ely – back yards densely packed with production areas • Human parasites in cess deposits • From late C14th urban waste disposal changes from single-use pits and back-yard refuse tips to reusable stone-lined pits and communal extra-mural tips Pits, Milk Lane, London
- 44. Life in towns Dragon Hall, Norwich
- 45. Life in towns Salisbury Winchester, Lower Brook St fuller’s house with chalk-lined water channel
- 46. Life in towns Road surfaces, Norwich
- 47. Life in towns Deeply sutured skull characteristic of rickets, York
- 48. Differential of sinusitis (a possible side-effect of atmospheric pollution) observed between rural Wharram Percy (50%) and urban St Helen on the Walls, York (72%).
- 49. Tales of medieval new towns • Ashwell (f. by 1086) • Dunwich (f. by 1086) • Saffron Walden (f. 1141) • Salisbury (f.1232) • Nayland (f. 12th/13th century) • Winchelsea (f. 1292) • Templeton (
- 50. N Test Pit with no pottery of this date Disturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Ashwell 2011-12 Test pits containing pottery dating to mid 5th – 8th century
- 51. N Test Pit with no pottery of this date Disturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Ashwell 2011-12 Test pits containing pottery dating to mid 9th – 11th century
- 52. N Test Pit with no pottery of this date Disturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Ashwell 2011-12 Test pits containing pottery dating to mid 11th – end 14th century
- 53. N Test Pit with no pottery of this date Disturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Ashwell 2011-12 Test pits containing pottery dating to 15th – mid 16th century
- 54. N Test Pit with no pottery of this date Disturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Test Pit with 1 sherd 4g or less Test Pit with 1 sherd 5g or more Test Pit with 2-4 sherds Test Pit with 5 sherds or more Ashwell 2011-12 Test pits containing pottery dating to mid 16th – end 18th century
- 60. N 8 7 6 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Disturbed levels 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Test Pit with no pottery of this date Nayland 2012 & 2014 Test pits containing pottery dating to 1 st – 5 th century AD
- 61. N 8 7 6 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Disturbed levels 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Test Pit with no pottery of this date Nayland 2012 & 2014 Test pits containing pottery dating to mid 9 th – mid 11 th century
- 62. N 8 7 6 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Disturbed levels 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Test Pit with no pottery of this date Nayland 2012 & 2014 Test pits containing pottery dating to mid 11 th – end 14 th century
- 63. N 8 7 6 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Disturbed levels 1 sherd 4g or less 1 sherd 5g or more 2-4 sherds 5 sherds or more Undisturbed levels Test Pit with no pottery of this date Nayland 2012 & 2014 Test pits containing pottery dating to 15 th – mid 16 th century
- 65. Queens University Belfast, 2005 project "Mapping medieval townscapes". Old Winchelsea engulfed by sea in 13 th century New Winchelsea founded late 13 th century on new site 14 th and 15 th centuries Winchelsea attacked by French and river silted up Last merchant had left the town by 1500
- 66. Templeton (Pembrokeshire) 1276-82 - Edward I v. Llewellyn Ap Gruffudd Burgesses in Templeton by 1283
- 67. Resilience…
- 68. The impact of the Black Death!!! no. dug mkts no. 2+ pits preBD av no. mkts no. 2+ pits post-BD av no. drop %drop 441 155 35 103 23 52 34 non mkts no. preBD non mkts no. post-BD 994 444 45 225 23 219 49 n 2+ pits HM n 2+ pits LM n. drop % drop LSf. 278 175 103 37 HMf. 110 59 51 46 Markets / towns Medieval ‘new’ settlements
- 69. N Gaywood Hindringham Binham Wisbech St Mary Thorney Ufford Ramsey Castor Houghton Sharnbrook Pirton Ashwell Willingham Cottenham Girton Gt Shelford Isleham Garboldisham Carleton Rode Acle Chediston Coddenham Long Melford Clare West Mersea Thorrington Writtle Little Hallingbury Manuden Hessett Bramford Paston Potton Peakirk Clavering Nayland Swaffham Bulbeck Stapleford Walberswick Wiveton Terrington St Clement Daws Heath Amwell Shillington Meldreth West Wickham High medieval Early C12 th –mid C14 th ) 0 1-9% 10-19% 20-29% 30-39% 40-49% 50-60% 61%+ Toft
- 70. N Gaywood Hindringham Binham Wisbech St Mary Thorney Ufford Ramsey Castor Houghton Sharnbrook Pirton Ashwell Willingham Cottenham Girton Gt Shelford Isleham Garboldisham Carleton Rode Acle Chediston Coddenham Long Melford Clare West Mersea Thorrington Writtle Little Hallingbury Manuden Hessett Bramford Paston Potton Peakirk Clavering Nayland Swaffham Bulbeck Stapleford Walberswick Wiveton Terrington St Clement Daws Heath Amwell Shillington Meldreth West Wickham Late medieval (late C14 th – mid C16 th ) 0 1-9% 10-19% 20-29% 30-39% 40-49% 50-60% 61%+ Toft
- 71. We, in the ages lying, in the buried past of the Earth, built Nineveh with our sighing and Babel itself with our mirth. And o'erthrew them with prophesying to the old of the New World's worth. For each age is a dream that is dying, or one that is coming to birth
- 72. Contemporary planning seen through the lens of earlier attempts to create new urban settlements. • New towns are as old as towns themselves • New towns are typically carefully planned (ideologically and/or spatially) to fulfil a specific purpose • New towns which develop spontaneously can be very successful, but often less secure. • New towns can materialise the zeitgeist – defence, nation building, feudalism, capitalism. • Deathless ditties or dying dreams? – Opportunism, pragmatism, functionalism, – Ideology, habitus – Utopianism v spatial agency – The city of the future Brave new world or toil and trouble?
- 73. Thank you
- 74. • Seeing contemporary urban planning in the context of earlier attempts to create new settlements. • Taking the long view of new towns in history. • What is a town? • History of new towns in Britain – Prehistory – no towns – Roman period – All towns = new towns – Early AS – no towns – Mid AS – new towns = wics – Late AS – new towns = burghs – Norman – new towns as Castle towns / Cathedral towns – High Med - many new towns as civic towns – Late med – Towns more resilient – Post-med – new towns in industrialising areas • Deathless ditties or dying dreams? - ideals and ideology v down-to-earth reality Key question