Living with a trespasser: Riparian names and medieval settlement on the River Trent floodplain

Jones, Richard, Gregory, Rebecca, Kilby, Susan and Pears, Ben (2017) Living with a trespasser: Riparian names and medieval settlement on the River Trent floodplain. European Journal of Post-Classical Archaeologies, 7, 33-64.

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Trent is England’s third longest river. Its propensity to flood has long been recognised. Indeed it is this distinguishing trait that appears to have given the river its name. In this paper, we examine how this mercurial and potentially dangerous river was understood and how its floodplain was settled in the Middle Ages. Drawing on toponomastic and palaeoecological evidence we examine the relationship between archaeologically attested medieval riparian settlements and the river. These themes are examined against the twin backgrounds of climate and anthropogenic landscape change which ensured that England’s floodplains were some of the most dynamic, and thus complex, spaces in which medieval people chose to live.

Text

Jones et al 2017 Living_with_a_Trespasser_riparian_names_ - Accepted Manuscript

Available under License University of Southampton Accepted Manuscript Licence.

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