Agricultural History Review, Volume 69 Part 1 (2021), p. 147

One would imagine that a region as celebrated as Dartmoor National Park in Devon would be well served by historical studies, and so it is, but scholarly monographs examining the medieval period specifically are rare, so this new volume is a welcome addition to the literature of this remarkable landscape.

The book has its origins in a five-year landscape partnership scheme, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and promoted by the National Park Authority, known as Moor than meets the eye, of which Moor Medieval was a small though significant sub-project designed to engage the public through community-led historical and archaeological research. The investigation focused on six moorland parishes on the central and eastern side of Dartmoor, in which various aspects of medieval life and landscape evidence were explored. This book represents the published culmination of this effort.

The work has been led by David Stone, a specialist in agrarian history, and Richard Sandover a landscape archaeologist. They are mainly responsible for the six chapters, each of which focus on a separate aspect of medieval Dartmoor. They cover diverse themes including approaches to medieval study, the medieval landscape, before and after the Black Death, the later middle ages, people, landscape, and communities. Within each of the chapters there are also double-page ‘boxes’, 35 in total, describing specific themes or examples of research in more detail. These boxes have been compiled by both amateurs and professionals involved in the Moor Medieval project and provide interesting snippets to complement the themes of the chapters.

In chapter 1 we are provided with a context for medieval Dartmoor and its study. This includes the nature of the landscape since prehistoric times, derived mainly from pollen analysis, and the various phases of human intervention that preceded the medieval period, as well as an introduction to the natural resources the medieval inhabitants enjoyed. Other topics covered include fluctuations in Dartmoor’s medieval population set within a national context, historical resources available for study, and the usefulness of community archaeology. This is followed by an attempt to reconstruct aspects of the medieval landscape within the study parishes from Saxon times onwards, for each of which a map is used to present some of the conclusions. The evidence includes place name studies, examination of field patterns, records of transhumance, agricultural technology, the Dartmoor longhouses and their setting, as well as the less frequently discussed hall houses.

The very different worlds in England before and after the arrival of the Black Death are contrasted, with the discussion focused on changes to Dartmoor specifically. First, the composition of medieval Dartmoor before the ‘pestilence’ is set out. This includes the population, settlement, villages and hamlets, and the cohesive influence of the manorial and parish structures, where the formulation and consolidation of both institutions are also examined. Occupations of the residents, not unexpectedly, included those involved in the growing of arable crops or raising livestock. Also, in this upland environment, a living could be made from the system of transhumance (as introduced to us on Dartmoor by the late Harold Fox), whereby lowland stockmen would entrust the summertime grazing of their cattle to upland herders. Others were involved in the tin industry, and still others (the carbonarii) in the manufacture of peat charcoal, which was used as the fuel to smelt the tin.

The Black Death arrived in Devon in 1349 and spread to most of the west country over the next three years. Its immediate affect and aftermath are examined for Dartmoor, where the changes were dramatic, explored by the authors through the increase in parish priest vacancies and the many changes in tenancies among the ancient tenements within the Forest of Dartmoor. In the latter case two-thirds of the tenancies had changed hands in the three years following 1348. Nevertheless, despite the ravages of the Black Death, in terms of prosperity, Dartmoor fared better than most areas of England and economic recovery was ‘relatively swift’, due to the continuance of summer pasturage, the growth of the tin industry and of wool production.

Aspects of this prosperity, rising population and increased consumption of goods, are outlined for the period covering 1400 to 1525. One intriguing anomaly explored is the apparent ‘conundrum’ of an increasing population and heightened economic activity at a period in the middle ages during which Dartmoor is known for the desertion of a great many of its smaller settlements. The authors dissect and evaluate the standard narratives of falling population caused by Black Death exacerbated by worsening climate in a marginal landscape and offer some new solutions of their own.

It is often quite difficult to succeed in bringing together all the strands of a diverse project of this type into a meaningful volume, especially where so many contributors are involved. However, the editors are to be congratulated on presenting so much new and fascinating material in a coherent and well-structured publication. The book has a glossy A4 format, an attractive layout with 44 colour illustrations and photographs, all of good standard, as well as an index. The text has scholarly authority, but is written in an accessible style, all of which combine to make this volume very easy to ‘dip’ into, or digest in larger portions.

One refreshing aspect of this work is the seamless coalescence of historical and archaeological sources and the introduction to Dartmoor’s medieval study of several fresh themes. It is particularly encouraging to see, possibly for the first time at this level of scholarship, that the tin industry, which was so crucial to Dartmoor’s socio-economic past, is integrated into the overall impression of medieval life, rather than being examined separately as has so often been the case. In a wider context, though seemingly a regional study, the research presented in this book will contribute important new material towards a more informed appreciation of medieval England as a whole.