dumnonia

Saturday, 26 September 2015

The acceptance of Christianity by Wessex

Page x
The acceptance of Christianity by Wessex 18 CHAPTER III The Frontier between
Wessex and Dyvnaint The position of Dorset with regard to Dyvnaint. Extent of
the Roman Province of Dumnonia. Permanence of the name, and late use of it.

Page xi
688 to 710 a.d. The battle with Gerent of Dyvnaint. Influence of Aldhelm in
averting war. Decisive check to Welsh, and advance of Wessex frontier. Mr
Freeman's conjectures as to results. Founding of border fortress at Taunton.
Trace of Celtic ...

Page xii
Difference between wars with Dyvnaint and Welsh fighting on midland frontiers.
Slow stages of Wessex advance, and length of time required for conquest of
Dyvnaint. The result of the conversion of Wessex not altogether making for peace
.

Page xiii
The comparative readiness of Wessex owing to the war with Dyvnaint. Question
of pacts made with the invaders. Independence of the chiefs and their followers.
The lesson learnt at Wareham. Norse invaders classed with Danes by early ...

Page 24
It severed the land communications between the Britons of the country north of
the Severn and those of Dyvnaint, and the campaigns against the Welsh from this
time accordingly follow two lines. At the present time, apart from possible ...

Page 25
the west, or to challenge the power of Dyvnaint. The northward advance was
continued up the Severn valley in 584, Ceawlin taking many towns and much
booty, but losing his brother Cutha at the battle of Fethanleag1. With this
expedition the ...

Page 27
A new stage of the advance of Wessex commences from the days of Kenwealh,
in which the kingdom of Dyvnaint comes into prominence. CHAPTER III THE
FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT The territory CH. II] 27
CERDIC TO ...

Page 28
CHAPTER III THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT The territory
in which for upwards of a century after the battle of Deorham the Britons of the
south-west maintained their independence, comprised the ancient Roman ...

Page 29
He was evidently quite aware that Dumnonia, or Dyvnaint, included Glastonbury
in British times. It is evident then that a great part of the modern Somerset lay in
Dumnonia. There would be no need to go further into this question but that, for
the ...

Page 30
Up to the time of Alfred, at least, the ancient boundaries of Dyvnaint were of
importance, and recognised for administrative military purposes1. Asser speaks
of the " western part of Selwood," meaning the whole territory lying to the
westward of ...

Page 31
... Elworthy, is well known. 2 ' ' Excavations in Bokerly and Wansdyke " (Vol. Ill of
Excavations in Cranborne Chase), p. 8. easily accessible from the sea is Poole
Harbour, and it CH. lll] THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT 3 1
.

Page 32
389. 1 Ancient Dorset, Chas. Warne, pp. 180—4; Roman Roads in Britain, T. Cod
- rington, p. 312. of the Romans1." The discovery made by Mrs Cunnington,
already 32 THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT [BK I.

Page 33
... that the inner entrenchment is undoubted Roman work. 2 See footnote, p. 23.
story of the siege of the " Mons Badonicus," wherever. Hod Hill and Lydsbury
Rings. M. 3 CH. III] THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT 33.

Page 34
... conditions remained unaltered until a far later period, for one may date the
general commencement of modern changes to the drainage, enclosure, and
extension of cultivation of 34 THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND
DYVNAINT [BK ...

Page 35
The Axe skirts the base of the Mendips and reaches the sea to the eastward of
Brean Down, between that promontory and Weston, and the Brue runs from
Glastonbury 3—2 CH. lll] THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT
35.

Page 36
... slopes of the Quantock foothills is not more than three miles. From Borough
Bridge to Bridgwater on one side and the Poldens on the other the present road
through the marshes 36 THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT [
BK ...

Page 37
... so surrounded in all directions by waters that save for one bridge there was no
access to it except by boat." Between the islands and the Polden Hills similar
conditions of CH. lll] THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT 37.

Page 38
... of man part of Sedgmoor has been practically impassable at these periods,
and still when a heavy rainfall or melting snow increases the supply of land water
from the hills, 38 THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT [BK I.

Page 39
... when it came into the possession of Walter de Douay at the conquest, and the
present local pronunciation " Burge-water," with the accent on the penultimate,
preserves this CH. lll] THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT 39.

Page 40
... of the Poldens. The ancient trackway would follow this line, even in pre-
embankment times, across the estuarine levels. thence to the great early camp of
Danesborough, or Dows-. 40 THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND
DYVNAINT ...

Page 41
... these roads were further guarded by the Quantock camps at some point or
other of their line. 1 See pp. 108 and 110. Dorset also is traversed by a great
Roman highway, the CH. lll] THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND
DYVNAINT 41.

Page 42
... and upwards of two miles to the east of the Roman road, are sufficient in our
view to put any such theory out of court. was even more numerous. Every hillside
bears the scars of 42 THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT [BK
I.

Page 43
The kingdom of Dyvnaint still occupied an important position two hundred years
later than Cerdic, although after the battle of Deorham it had been cut off from
communication by land with the Welsh kingdoms beyond the Severn. In spite of
this ...

Page 44
CHAPTER IV THE WARS OF KENWEALH (643—672 a.D.) It is doubtful whether
the frontier between Wessex and Dyvnaint changed materially during the seventy
-five years which followed the battle of Deorham, though in the long peace it is ...

Page 59
40, 41, entered Saxon territory from Dyvnaint. The exact date of the grants made
by Kentwine himself is not given, but, as we have no reason to believe that the
Wessex frontier was advanced across the Parrett until after the defeat of the
Welsh, ...

Page 63
At the same time the abbey was given possessions which covered the main
routes of pilgrimage from the West to the Holy Island, at points where they passed
from the kingdom of Dyvnaint into Wessex. Cruca covered the landing-place at ...

Page 65
His power was fully recognised by the Saxons, and there had been, previous to
the outbreak of the war, some 1 Dyvnaint, the remains of the old Roman province
of Dumnonia, at this time included Devon and Cornwall, and also all Somerset ...

Page 66
The only evidence of the success of Wessex is in the founding of Taunton in
advance of the frontier won by Kentwine. It is certain that Wessex made another
step westward, but how far is not evident. At the same time the power of Dyvnaint
was ...

Page 70
... as must previously have been the case with the frontier marches between the
Parrett and the Quantocks. This royal domain would therefore form an
administrative province of its own, cut off from Dyvnaint, yet not 70 THE WARS OF
INE [BK I.

Page 71
province of its own, cut off from Dyvnaint, yet not incorporated in Wessex proper.
This gives an explanation of an expression which occurs in the Chronicle under
the year 876, when we are told that the brother of Ingwar and Healfdene came to
...

Page 74
Beyond it there is no sharp, defensible line of country in any way comparable to
the physical boundaries which marked the first stages of the conquest of Dyvnaint
. The Saxons had reached the wild approaches to the great moorlands of ...

Page 75
CHAPTER VII THE FINAL STAGES OF THE CONQUEST OF DYVNAINT (7IO —
822 A.D.) Five years after the defeat of Gerent there was war with Mercia, the
reason of its outbreak not being evident, though as Ine met Ceolred at the old ...

Page 77
... Saxonica, by J. W. Collen. Unfortunately Mr Collen does not give his authorities
, an omission which seriously impairs the value of his work. Cynewulf seemed to
give him his chance of escape, if CH. VII] 77 THE CONQUEST OF DYVNAINT.

Page 79
During this period of Mercian overlordship and intrigue it is not possible that any
westward advance on Dyvnaint can have been made. As we have pointed out, it
is far more likely that an actual loss of territory gained by Kentwine and Ine took ...

Page 80
It would be a fair deduction from the bringing up of a Saxon within the lands of the
hated British Church that the parents of the saint were fugitives who had sought
shelter from the raids of Ceadwalla with the prince of Dyvnaint; but it is far more ...

Page 81
... Journal of the Arch. Institute. 2 Cf. the contemporary Scandinavian settlements
in S. Wales and N. Somerset, Book 11, chap. II. of conquest. Possibly Beorhtric's
attitude was influenced by that of M. 6 CH. VII] THE CONQUEST OF DYVNAINT
8l.

Page 82
of conquest. Possibly Beorhtric's attitude was influenced by that of his father-in-
law, but it is almost a commonplace to say that Wessex trouble with Mercia was
the opportunity of Dyvnaint, and the close alliance that now existed between the ...

Page 83
The known close alliance of these newcomers with the Welsh of Cornwall
seriously retarded the pacification of the far west, and enabled Cornwall, the last
cantle of Dyvnaint, to retain some sort of independence for nearly a century after
Devon ...

Page 85
We can therefore only claim for the central or Blackdown section of the boundary
between Wessex and Dyvnaint that it represents Gerent's frontier. His wars with
Ine settled some sort of "march" between the two kingdoms, but the sharp line ...

Page 87
In the case of the other kingdoms there was nothing quite like the long struggle in
which, by slow degrees, the old British kingdom of Dyvnaint was conquered, and
absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex. The Welsh states which they had to ...

Page 88
powerful and less able to offer a sustained resistance to encroachment than
Dyvnaint, and their internal jealousies rendered it impossible for them to act in
concert. From the first, Dyvnaint suffered from no disunion, and was slowly forced
into ...

Page 89
thought of aggrandizement by the Danish peril at the end of the ninth century,
and consider the conquest of Dyvnaint as ending with the battle of Gafulford in
822, when Ecgberht completed the conquest of Devon, and may have
established ...

Page 90
their holy spot. On the other hand, the fact that Glastonbury had passed into
Saxon power must have had its full influence in the prosecution of the war by
Dyvnaint, so long as that ancient kingdom retained its independence. It is hardly
...

Page 91
fought, and Taunton was built. Then Wessex strove with Mercia, and Dyvnaint
was at rest for forty years, unless she regained some of her lost ground. Probably
that was the case, for with the end of the Mercian trouble in 753, Cuthred of ...

Page 102
In the eighth and ninth centuries the " Danes " appear as the allies of Dyvnaint.
The Britons of the west knew them as friends from the first, and looked to them for
help as the growing power of Wessex pressed on Devon and Cornwall.

Page 103
Up this valley was practically the only road from the Severn sea into Dyvnaint,
and the haven of Watchet must always have been of some importance, the close
connection between the British kingdoms on either side of the Severn sea being
...

Page 104
The sharp racial definition implied by the name renders it almost certain that here
at Williton was the guarded point at which the British traders from Dyvnaint met
the outland seafaring merchants from the haven which they occupied.

Page 105
A haven at Combwich therefore had the same advantage of direct routes to
Wessex as that at Watchet possessed with regard to Dyvnaint. Combwich was
superseded, probably after the foundation of Taunton and the consequent
diversion of ...

Page 113
... Park could have originated and taken firm root there after the conquest of the
district by Christian Wessex is impossible. A pre-conquest settlement of heathen
Saxons in what was then independent Dyvnaint is for political and other reasons
...

Page 118
Against such trained forces England had no men available except in Wessex,
where the long wars with Dyvnaint had kept alive the knowledge of the value of
discipline ; had produced a line of veterans who knew the leaders of their
counties ...

Page 123
It is noticeable that they seem to have left Dyvnaint unharried still. By this time the
Danes were active in the eastern counties, where the first landing had been
made in 838, fifty years after the first attack on the west. In that year and the next
the ...

Page 135
... to him afresh and heartily, winning a battle on the old frontier line of Dyvnaint at
Penselwood, and passing forward to fight the drawn battle of Sceorstan, followed
by the disastrous defeat at Assandun, again due to Edric Streone's treachery, ...

Page 137
... the last unconquered kingdom left in England, an attempt foiled when within an
ace of succeeding by the king's determined resistance and his rally of the
Wessex levies for another fight in the ancient cock-pit of the war with Dyvnaint.

Page 143
... objected to. considered Exeter as in Dyvnaint, and outside Alfred's dominions,
for CH. I] THE TAKING OF WAREHAM AND EXETER 143.

Page 144
considered Exeter as in Dyvnaint, and outside Alfred's dominions, for the
purposes of a wartime arrangement. However that may have been, in that fortress
they were blockaded by Alfred, until, some time in 877, the fleet from Wareham, ...

Page 222
Anton or Test, Valley of the, 9 ; advance up, 20 Appledore, 126, 180, 185
Armorica, relations with Dyvnaint, Arthur, British account of his warfare with
Cerdic, 2 ; victor at Mons Badoni- cus, 20; gave Brent and Polden to Glastonbury,
52 and ...

Page 223
... accounts of the Saxon conquest, t, 2 ; Roman organisation of, 4, s ; in alliance
with Saxons, 24 ; of Armorica and South Wales, relations with Dyvnaint, 43 ;
driven " to the sea," 53 ; probable explanation of the phrase, 63 Brittany, 129
Brogger, ...

Page 224
... 204, 205, 206 Chochilaicus, 96 Christiania, 107 Christianity, Wessex accepts,
26, 45, 50, 216, 218; effect of, on struggle between Wessex and Dyvnaint, 89, 90 ;
and heathen traditions in West Somerset, 113, 114; acceptance of, by Guthrum, ...

Page 226
... near Andover, 10 Devizes, 134 Devon (see also Dyvnaint), extent of, in former
times, 29-31; "in Wessex," meaning of, 30, 71, 82, 146, 153, 182, 185, 186 and
footnote; Roman roads to, 42 ; boundary between, and Somerset, 66-71, 185,
186; ...

Page 227
Durleigh, 57 Durston, 57 Dyvnaint, Welsh of, severed from the North Welsh, 24 ;
position in the time of Kenwealh, 27, 43 ; developed out of Dumnonia, 28 ; extent
of, 28-3 1 ; frontiers of, 44, 52, 66-71, 136, 137, 154 ; pilgrim routes into Wessex ...

Page 228
... 146 Gautelf, River, blocked by Harald Fair- hair, 17 footnote Geoffrey of
Monmouth, on Gormund and Africans from Ireland, 99 Gerent, King of Dyvnaint,
80, 85; his leading position, 65, 66 ; Ine's war with, 65-71, 77, 90; position after it,
74. 75.

Page 232
... early English coins in, 119 footnote; conversion of, 131; falls under Denmark,
Norwich, 133 Nunna, King of the South Saxons, helps Ine against Dyvnaint, 65,
66, 76; his death, 76 Nydam boat described, 3 Nyland Hill, see Andreyseye
Oakley ...

Page 234
... 88, 181, 194, 218; character of coast-line of, 35, 185 ; position of Old Burrow
Camp overlooking, 69 ; prevailing winds of, ioi, 183 ; trade routes from, into
Dyvnaint, 102-105, into Wessex, 102, 105 ; Danish fleets in, 120, 123 and
footnote, 125, ...

Page 235
... 187 Somerset, North, physical features of, 3J, 37; Danish settlements in, Book
11, Chap, ii, 120 Somerset, West, partly included in Dumnonia (Dyvnaint), 29 ; a
battle ground between Wessex and Dyvnaint, 34 ; royal domain in, 70 ; dialect of,
...

Page 236
... regained by Wessex, 65 ; won by Ecgberht, 82 Sussex, 134, 209, 210; won by
Wulfhere from Wessex, 48 ; regained by Wessex, 65 ; helps Ine against Dyvnaint,
66 ; Ealdbriht the exile connected with, 75- 78 ; connection with Taunton, 76-78 ...

Page 237
Walpole in Pawlett (Wallepille), 203 ; Domesday record of, 57 Wansdyke, 44, 141
, 168; eastern termination of, 9; as to date and name, 23 footnote; frontier
between Wessex and Dyvnaint, 24, 34 Wantage (Waneting), bequeathed by King
Alfred ...




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Up to the time of Alfred, at least, the ancient boundaries of Dyvnaint were of
importance, and recognised for administrative military purposes1. Asser speaks
of the " western part of Selwood," meaning the whole territory lying to the
westward of ...

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Page 33
... that the inner entrenchment is undoubted Roman work. 2 See footnote, p. 23.
story of the siege of the " Mons Badonicus," wherever. Hod Hill and Lydsbury
Rings. M. 3 CH. III] THE FRONTIER BETWEEN WESSEX AND DYVNAINT 33.

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Dumnonia

EBK: King Gerren Llyngesoc of Dumnonia


Gerren Llyngesoc, King of Dumnonia
(Born c.AD 448)
(Welsh: Gereint; Latin: Gerontius; English: Gereint)

The eldest son of King Erbin of Dumnonia. Arthurian tradition would have us believe that, after the death of his his wife, “Sir Gereint” spent much time at King Arthur‘s Court, looking for action and adventure. It was supposedly during this period that he encountered the Sparrow Hawk Knight and came to marry Lady Enid of Caer-Teim (Cardiff), a story told in the ancient tales of “Erec (alias Gereint) & Enid” and “Geraint mab Erbin”. He inherited the Dumnonian throne in c.497 (or 480) and is recorded as one of the great “Fleet Owners” of post-Roman Britain His castle was once called Caer-Gurrel or Fort of the Ship. He died fighting the Saxons with the High-King Arthur at the Battle of Llongborth (Portsmouth, Somerset) around 480/510. This recorded in a long Welsh poem called the “Elegy for Gereint”. He was succeeded by his son, Cado.
EBK: King Gerren Llyngesoc of Dumnonia

St. Breaca

St. Breaca


long ship
St. Breaca (born c.486)
(Welsh-Breaga, Latin-Briacus, English-Breage)

St. Selevan’s sister, Princess Breaca, left Dumnonia to become a nun at St. Brigid’s foundation of Campus Breacae in Ireland. She later returned to her home Kingdom with Saints Sinwin, Germoe, Elwen, Crowan and Helen. She built churches first at Pencair, then Trenwith and Talmeneth. She finally retired to the village named after her, Breage.
Britannia EBK Biographies: St. Breacaimg015DSC_0195_2131video nikonDSC_0234_2170video nikon

Spanish Main

“ Spanish Main ”


tmpa05b-1
O most of us the words “ Spanish Main ” conjure up visions of high-sterned carracks riding at anchor off a town of red-tiled, white-walled houses backed by a mountain wall ; of mule-trains trudging through the Darien forest laden with small, flat, heavy boxes containing treasure torn from the Incas. Mosquitoes and heat; cruelty and courage. Drake, Cortez, Morgan, Venables. Cartagena, Nombre de Dios, Panama. We forget—or perhaps, have never realized—that the motive behind all those wild, fantastic doings, the magnet that drew Europeans to those shores, was trade. But so it was—and it was the desire for trade that led men from the British Isles to establish the tiny settlement on the Bay of Honduras on the inhospitable, uninhabited coast between the Captain-generalships of Yucatan and Guatemala.
For years the Spanish had been exporting dye-woods from Campeche on the Gulf of Mexico. Then a British buccaneer captured a vessel thus laden and, after having burned much of this disappointing cargo for firewood, discovered to his astonishment that it was
worth £100 a ton. The news went round, and many of the dubious sea-faring characters that infested the Caribbean Sea in those days tried to share this unexpected treasure from the swamps of Campeche, until the Spaniards learned of it and drove them out. Forced to seek elsewhere, and with a natural liking for sheltered and concealed waters and a contempt for the perils of navigation, the British logwood hunters presently established themselves at the mouth of the principal river running into the immense lagoon that lies behind the coral reef (second longest in the world) which extends from the base of the peninsula of Yucatan southward to within twenty miles of the coast of Guatemala.
The first inhabitants of the Settlement were part-time foresters.
They plied this more peaceful trade only when the dangers of the hurricane season rendered maritime enterprise—shall we call it?-—unprofitable. Even in the early days of the 18th century they were a rough lot; Captain Nathaniel Uring roundly declared that “ the settlement on the Bay of Honduras is entirely composed of criminals, fugitives from justice or men of desperate fortune.” But tough they had to be, for Britain, and even Jamaica (herself no Sunday-school in those days), disowned them. The Spaniards, though they had never made the
Measuring a mahogany tree before felling (below) and the barbecue—or platform of sticks—on which the feller stands (left)
Courtesy of the Timber Development Assn. and H.M.S.O.
tmpd546-3
worth £100 a ton. The news went round, and many of the dubious sea-faring characters that infested the Caribbean Sea in those days tried to share this unexpected treasure from the swamps of Campeche, until the Spaniards learned of it and drove them out. Forced to seek elsewhere, and with a natural liking for sheltered and concealed waters and a contempt for the perils of navigation, the British logwood hunters presently established themselves at the mouth of the principal river running into the immense lagoon that lies behind the coral reef (second longest in the world) which extends from the base of the peninsula of Yucatan southward to within twenty miles of the coast of Guatemala.
The first inhabitants of the Settlement were part-time foresters.
They plied this more peaceful trade only when the daggers of the hurricane season rendered maritime enterprise—shall we call it?-—unprofitable. Even in the early days of the 18th century they were a rough lot; Captain Nathaniel Uring roundly declared that “ the settlement on the Bay of Honduras is entirely composed of criminals, fugitives from justice or men of desperate fortune.” But tough they had to be, for Britain, and even Jamaica (herself no Sunday-school in those days), disowned them. The Spaniards, though they had never made the
249
T

St. Keyna, Virgin

October 8
St. Keyna, Virgin
BRAGHAN, prince of part of Wales, who has left his name to Brecknockshire, was happy in an offspring of saints. The most famous were St. Canoc, who founded many monasteries in Ireland; and St. Keyna, surnamed by the Welch, The Virgin, who lived a recluse in a wood in Somersetshire, at a distance from her own country, near the town of Cainsham, which seems so called from her, and stands on the Avon not far from Bristol. Spiral stones in the figure of serpents have been found in that country, which some of the people pretend to have been serpents turned into stones by her prayers. 1 They seem either petrifactions or sports of nature in uncommon crystallizations in a mineral soil. St. Keyna is said to have died in her own country in the fifth or sixth century. Many places in Wales are filled with monuments of the great veneration which was formerly paid to this saint. See her Acts in Capgrave, Alford, &c.
Saint Keyna, Virgin. October 8. Rev. Alban Butler. 1866. Volume X: October. The Lives of the Saints

mahogany tree

mahogany tree



Measuring a mahogany tree before felling (below) and the barbecue—or platform of sticks—on which the feller stands (left)
Courtesy of the Timber Development Assn. and H.M.S.O.
tmpd546-1
worth £100 a ton. The news went round, and many of the dubious sea-faring characters that infested the Caribbean Sea in those days tried to share this unexpected treasure from the swamps of Campeche, until the Spaniards learned of it and drove them out. Forced to seek elsewhere, and with a natural liking for sheltered and concealed waters and a contempt for the perils of navigation, the British logwood hunters presently established themselves at the mouth of the principal river running into the immense lagoon that lies behind the coral reef (second longest in the world) which extends from the base of the peninsula of Yucatan southward to within twenty miles of the coast of Guatemala.
The first inhabitants of the Settlement were part-time foresters.
They plied this more peaceful trade only when the dangers of the hurricane season rendered maritime enterprise—shall we call it?-—unprofitable. Even in the early days of the 18th century they were a rough lot; Captain Nathaniel Uring roundly declared that “ the settlement on the Bay of Honduras is entirely composed of criminals, fugitives from justice or men of desperate fortune.” But tough they had to be, for Britain, and even Jamaica (herself no Sunday-school in those days), disowned them. The Spaniards, though they had never made the
tmpd546-2
Measuring a mahogany tree before felling (below) and the barbecue—or platform of sticks—on which the feller stands (left)
Courtesy of the Timber Development Assn. and H.M.S.O.
tmpd546-3
worth £100 a ton. The news went round, and many of the dubious sea-faring characters that infested the Caribbean Sea in those days tried to share this unexpected treasure from the swamps of Campeche, until the Spaniards learned of it and drove them out. Forced to seek elsewhere, and with a natural liking for sheltered and concealed waters and a contempt for the perils of navigation, the British logwood hunters presently established themselves at the mouth of the principal river running into the immense lagoon that lies behind the coral reef (second longest in the world) which extends from the base of the peninsula of Yucatan southward to within twenty miles of the coast of Guatemala.
The first inhabitants of the Settlement were part-time foresters.
They plied this more peaceful trade only when the daggers of the hurricane season rendered maritime enterprise—shall we call it?-—unprofitable. Even in the early days of the 18th century they were a rough lot; Captain Nathaniel Uring roundly declared that “ the settlement on the Bay of Honduras is entirely composed of criminals, fugitives from justice or men of desperate fortune.” But tough they had to be, for Britain, and even Jamaica (herself no Sunday-school in those days), disowned them. The Spaniards, though they had never made the

Mohammedan

SHOPS



MAN’S TRADE AND INDUSTRY
SHOPS
tmp632c-1
G.P.A.
A WALKING COFFEE-SHOP IN CAIRO
Refreshment is an important branch of business. This travelling Egyptian coffee-seller does a
roaring trade in the streets in spite of the none-too-clean appearance of his cup; and pots.
The lady will wait for privacy before she lifts her veil to drink,
since Mohammedan women are strictly forbidden to unveil their faces in the presence of their male folk. 

FOREST COLONY

FOREST COLONY



FOREST COLONY
smallest attempt to occupy or colonize the place, demanded their withdrawal on the astonishing grounds that the Pope had allotted to Spain all lands lying west of longitude 60°W. They harried the settlers without ceasing and with varying fortune until, on September 10th, 1798, the guns of H.M. Sloop of War Merlin and the gun-flats improvised by the Baymen of Belize beat off-—or scared off—a formidable armada launched against them by the Captain-general of Yucatan (who rejoiced in the fine old Spanish name of O’Niel), and settled the business, until it was revived in recent years by the Republic of Guatemala.*
LOGWOOD declined in price, but long before this happened the settlers of Honduras had found other valuable products in the forest. First of these to be exploited was mahogany. Swie tenia Mahogani and Swietenia Macro phylla, of that great timber-yielding family the Meliacae, had the good fortune to catch the fancy of the well-to-do public. The Honduras mahogany is a splendid-looking tree, heavily buttressed. It attains a girth of fourteen or fifteen feet above the buttresses and a clear timber height from the top of the buttresses to the first branch of fifty feet or more. Tn tropical mixed forests of the kind in which mahogany grows, nothing of the nature of a pure stand of one species is ever discovered. Mahogany is slightly gregarious and where one tree is found there are usually others
O J    O    J    o O    .    .    J
within a relatively short distance. But the winged seeds, somewhat similar to large sycamore seeds, are evidently effective in securing dispersion, and trees are widely scattered throughout the forest. Two hundred mahogany trees to a square mile—less than one to three acres—is good mahogany forest.
Mahogany is a light wood and the obvious way to get it out of the forest is by floating it down a river. Unfortunately, all forest near the rivers has been logged since early days. Until comparatively recently the tree was ruthlessly over-cut, and where too high a proportion of the secd-bearers has been felled, mahogany has failed to regenerate, so that it must now be sought many miles from the natural routes of extraction.
In the old days, trees were felled only within a few hundred feet of the rivers and hauled bodily to the waterside by slaves. Later, cattle were called upon to do the hauling, dragging wooden sledges running over sticks placed at intervals across the path. This technique is still occasionally followed for hauls up to a mile when the first rains have provided lubrication, and is known as “ sliding.’” “ Sliding Camp ” is a name that appears frequently on the map of British Honduras.
THE next development was the introduction of wheeled trucks. These could be employed only in the dry season and so the operations began to conform to the pattern in use today. A five-mile haul is about the limit for cattle which are usually worked at night for the sake of coolness. A thousand logs was a good season’s work whth cattle, and even now “Thousandth Log” day is celebrated in the logging camps with a holiday on which the management is expected to provide rum freely, though the target of the operation, using tractors, may be three, five or seven thousand logs. For nowadays the crawler-track tractor hauls the logs in every big operation and it is only in the smaller ones that cattle are still occasionally used. Apart from everything else, the cattle food has been over-cut and is no longer plentiful; so much labour is required to cut and bring it in that the cost of cattle haulage has greatly increased.
The elite of the modern logging camp are the tractor drivers and the best of them handle their machines with a skill and nerve that 1 find admirable. A payable tractor haul may extend to sixteen miles or so, and we now can say that almost all dry and reasonably level parts of the Colony can be logged, for little of it lies at a greater distance than that
* How the Braye Baymen Saved Belize was told in the EMPIRE YOUTH ANNUAL, 1943.

natural weather

natural weather


mick gambol

SEA EROSION AT PAKEFIELD, NEAR LOWESTOFT
The sea has cut away the cliff until houses—once some distance from the cliff edge—have collapsed
Crown Copyright Reserved
the weak places in a rock or even in a brick wall are penetrated by wind and rain, and the effects of such prolonged exposure to the elements can be seen in the pictures above.
Frost has its strongest effect when porous rocks have had their cavities and cracks filled with water—for instance, after heavy rain. During severe frost the water, turning to ice, expands and exerts great pressure, widening crevices and producing ice crystals even in microscopic cavities. When it is remembered that water increases its volume by more than one-tenth in freezing, it will be seen how powerful this pressure can be. When the thaw sets in, mineral crystals, particles of rock, and even pebbles or large stones which have been loosened are dislodged by gravity, wind, or rain. Anyone who has noticed the spongy nature of a gravel path when first the thaw sets in aftei Dost will realize how much the top crust of trodden gravel has been lifted by the ice underneath. In regions of prolonged winter frosts, as in the mountains of Switzerland, the effects are not apparent until spring comes and the ice in the lower parts of the mountains melts. Then blocks of stone, which have been cut off the mountain walls by the ice, tumble into the valleys below.
2. Erosion. This word, taken literally, means ‘eating away’. It is impossible to separate erosion and weathering completely, since the sand-blast of the desert and the driving rain of a storm are eroding no less than weathering forces; but it is usual to restrict the term erosion to actions which more closely fit the exact meaning of gnawing away. Rain, running water, waves, and moving ice are the main agents of erosion. The great world problem of erosion in relation to human settlement and agriculture is dealt with separately {see Soil Erosion).
Running water erodes by the agency of particles of sand (as in a streamlet), pebbles (as at the bottom of a rather slow river), or large stones (as in the case of a vast mountain torrent). Sometimes, in swiftly running streams, large stones carve out ‘pot-holes’ even in hard rock. The sea uses stones as one of its weapons in its assault upon shores and cliffs. Storm waves hurl tons of water with enormous force against the

Augustine – 1st Archbishop of Canterbury

Augustine – 1st Archbishop of Canterbury



Augustine – 1st Archbishop of Canterbury

“Your words are fair, but of doubtful meaning; I cannot forsake what I have so long believed. But as you have come from far we will not molest you; you may preach, and gain as many as you can to your religion” Greeting of King Ethelbert, Isle of Thanet, to Augustine in the Summer of 597
Details of Augustine’s life are scarce. Believed to have been a pupil of Felix, bishop of Messana, he became a monk and later Prior of St Andrew’s in Rome. He was sent by Pope Gregory to lead a party of around 30 monks to bring England (such as it was) under the influence of the Roman world. The journey was halted at one point, the monks losing their nerve and returning to Rome, before successfully landing at Ebbsfleet in 597. Received cautiously by the King of Kent, Ethelbert, Augustine managed to estbalish a community of monks based first at St Martin’s church, later transferring to the site of the present Cathedral.
Augustine struggled to establish his authority within the British Isles and did not bring to completion Gregory’s plan to form an English church based on two provinces and twelve bishops.
He died on May 26th, now remembered as his feast day, but the year of his death is uncertain, between 604 and 609. He was buried at what is now called St Augustine’s Abbey.
Research by Jenny Childs and Steve Empson
Detailed biography:
Augustine (? – c604)
St Augustine or Austin, of Canterbury (Evangelizer of England – as distinct from Roman Britain; feast day 26 May in England, 27 May in the RC Church since 1969 & outside England now). ‘Bishop [or Archbishop] of the English’ (as consecrated); ‘Apostle of the English’ (originally a description of Pope Gregory).
Italian by birth.

d. May c604; some reports put it as late as 609. Buried at the Monastery of St Peter and St Paul (afterwards known as St Augustine’s) Canterbury.
Ministry
Prior St Andrew’s Monastery Rome ? – ?; Leader 1st Mission to England 596-597; chosen by Pope Gregory I to lead between thirty and forty monks to Kent 596, departed 596, landed Summer 597 at Ebbsfleet and received in Thanet by Kentish K Ethelbert.
Archbishop of Canterbury 597- c604; Consecrated before his 1st arrival in England, possibly with the title ‘Bishop of the English’, possibly  at Arles, but also possibly after becoming established in England. The pallium  – the symbol of office – was sent from Rome by Pope Gregory I in 601.
His time as Archbishop coincided with with » Kings and Queens: Kent » Ethelbert 560? -616 » East Saxons » Sabert ? -616 » West Saxons » (Ceolric 592-97) » Ceolwulf 597-611 » South Saxons » ? » Mercia » Crida or Creoda or Cearl 593-626 » Northumbria » Ethelfrid 593-617 » East Angles » ? (Redwald ? -627) » Popes » Gregory I 590-604 » (Sabinianus 604-06) »
Known writings:
helped Ethelbert to draft the earliest Anglo-Saxon written laws to survive.
Firsts:
1st Abp of Canterbury.
Augustine – 1st Archbishop of Canterbury

Stonehenge itself

Stonehenge itself and Avebury Henge and Stone Circles are both the products of a long sequence of construction and modification


Concordat governing the location and construction of building for Ministry of Defence at Larkhill (As agreed with MPBW, Ancient Monuments Division) The Ministry of Defence have a requirement for a School of Artillery at Larkhill for as long as can be foreseen. In addition to the buildings now being erected, this Army Establishment may require further buildings or structures. However, it is the long term objective of the Ministry of Public Building and Works that no buildings or large tree plantings should be visible from Stonehenge. In furtherance of this objective, and to permit any necessary further development of the Army Establishment to be planned without further consultation on this aspect. It is agreed: a. On the Ministry of Defence owned land south of the line described in Annex A (but excluding Durrington Downs Farm where, however, MPBW shall be consulted about the siting and character of any replacements or additions), no new buildings or structures shall be erected except additions to existing buildings; these additions not to exceed 50 sq metres in area and 5 metres in height above ground level. All new building work shall be screened by trees if visible from Stonehenge. b. Any proposal for a building of more than 9 metres above ground level to be erected North of the line as described and which would not be completely hidden from Stonehenge by ground contours shall be the subject of specific agreement between the Departments. c. The Ministry of Defence will take no action which would increase the obtrusion of existing buildings and structures on the landscape as seen from Stonehenge. d. The Ministry of Defence will take account when considering requirements for new building in the Larkhill area, the effect which such development might have in prolonging the life of existing buildings which are visible from Stonehenge. Annexure ‘A’ to Concordat Building line following completion of building for the move of Manorbier From the limit of MOD property in the WEST the building line follows the Packway to the junction with the pathway to the cricket pavilion (at the Eastern end of the Shopping Centre). Thence, NORTH along this pathway past the Cricket pavilion to the junction with the School of Artillery Officers’ Mess approach which it follows NORTH (to the West of the Officers’ Mess) to the junction with GLOVER Road. Thence, EAST along GLOVE Road to the junction with the PACKWAY. Thence EAST along the PACKWAY to the junction with WOOD Road. Thence SOUTH along WOOD Road to the junction with POWNALL Road to the MOD Boundary. 286 Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site Management Plan 2015 Appendices Appendix K Detailed archaeological description of the Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Evidence of Palaeolithic activity in the Avebury area is sparse, much of it on the clay with flints but with a presence now apparent around the headwaters of the River Kennet. Evidence at Cherhill, in Butler’s Field and in the area later occupied by Falkner’s Circle suggests a transient presence during the Later Mesolithic in the Avebury area with more sustained activity further down the Kennet valley around Newbury and Thatcham. The sockets for four very large Early Mesolithic posts (c 8,000 BC) were found on the site of the previous Stonehenge car park. Such monumental activity is exceptionally rare in Britain during the Mesolithic. On the spring line overlooked by what later became Vespasian’s Camp at Blick Mead, lithic and faunal evidence suggests a sustained or repeated large-scale presence throughout much of the Mesolithic. Earlier Neolithic (c 4000–3000 BC) The earliest ceremonial and funerary monuments in and around the Stonehenge portion of the WHS date from the Earlier Neolithic and include about a dozen long barrows (some of which were burial mounds) and Robin Hood’s Ball, a causewayed enclosure just outside the WHS. These monuments were built in within what was already by then a largely open, grassland environment. The Cursus (a long thin earthwork enclosure bounded by a ditch and bank) was constructed around 3,630–3,370 BC, and the Lesser Cursus (a smaller rectangular enclosure) was also built towards the end of this period. The years between about 3,700 and 3,300 BC saw the construction of a number of earthen long barrows and chambered tombs in the Avebury part of the WHS. Among the earliest are the chambered examples at West Kennet and Millbarrow. Unlike the earthen long barrows such as South Street and Horslip, that were built slightly later, both West Kennet and Millbarrow had a mortuary aspect to their use. A recent radiocarbon dating programme suggests that the causewayed enclosure at Windmill Hill was built within a few years of West Kennet Long Barrow, though the enclosure itself was preceded by earlier activity and it remained a focal point for deposition into the Early Bronze Age. Later Neolithic (3000–2200 BC) Stonehenge itself and Avebury Henge and Stone Circles are both the products of a long sequence of construction and modification. The construction of the small circular enclosure at Stonehenge was begun around 3,000 BC and a similar early phase of construction evident beneath the final henge bank at Avebury may date from around the same time. To the west of the Henge the Longstones enclosure was also constructed during this period, though its form echoes that of the much earlier enclosure on Windmill Hill. At Stonehenge the principal entrance was on the north-east side and a secondary one to the south. Around this time fifty-six circular pits, known as the ‘Aubrey Holes’ after their original discoverer John Aubrey (1626–1697), were dug inside the bank at Stonehenge. These once held either stout timber posts or stones, but when these rotted or were removed cremations were placed within them. The Avebury Henge ditch and bank seem to have been built c 2600 BC. The sequence of stone settings here is not firmly established but may have begun with the Cove and inner settings and been followed by the Outer Circle. Likewise the date of Falkner’s Circle is uncertain. The Sanctuary on Overton Hill and linked to Avebury by the West Kennet Avenue, represents another circular ceremonial monument, in this case built initially of timber posts which were subsequently replaced by sarsen stones. Neither the West Kennet nor the Beckhampton Avenues are well dated but appear to have been built after the Henge and Stone Circles towards the end of the Later Neolithic; while Silbury Hill was constructed between c 2400 BC and 2300 BC. The West Kennet Palisade Enclosures, which today survive only below ground, are also of Later Neolithic date. At Stonehenge the sequence of the erection, dismantling and re-erection of the stone settings (comprised of bluestones from the Preseli Hills in West Wales, sarsens and, in one case, old red sandstone) is complex and still the subject of some debate but recent parchmark evidence suggests that contra to previous suggestions the outer sarsen circle was once complete. Very few other megalithic stone structures exist which have the architectural and technical sophistication of Stonehenge. It was uniquely built using woodworking techniques which may have been used in timber structures of the period such as those at Durrington Walls and Woodhenge. To the east of Stonehenge, on Coneybury Hill, stood the smaller monument known as Coneybury Henge, while to the north-east stood the massive henge enclosure of Durrington Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site Management Plan 2015 Appendices 287 Walls with the smaller Woodhenge situated close by to the south. The timber structures at Durrington Walls were constructed perhaps a generation earlier than the encircling bank and ditch which formed the henge enclosure. There original use appears to be associated with the remains of at least ten late Neolithic houses situated inside and just outside the area later encircled by Durrington Walls henge excavated as part of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. The excavators have suggested that they may be the surviving elements of a much larger village of many hundreds of houses in use at the time of the construction of the main sarsen phase of Stonehenge. This would make it the largest village in northwest Europe at that time. Stonehenge and Avebury would both have served as major ceremonial centres drawing large populations to the area both during their construction and subsequently. Recent evidence from stable isotope analysis suggests that some of the people visiting the site may have travelled considerable distances coming from well outside of the region. A deep shaft known as the Wilsford Shaft was excavated at this time, and continued in use until the Roman period. The open nature of the countryside was maintained by grazing animals. Early Bronze Age (c 2200–1600 BC) Hundreds of round barrows of various forms were raised during the Early Bronze Age at both Avebury and Stonehenge. The discovery of Beaker graves unmarked by any mounds next to naturally occurring sarsens to the north of the Avebury part of the WHS and at the foot of stones in the West Kennet Avenue show that barrows were not the only places of burial in the landscape at this time. At West Kennet there is clear evidence that the Earlier Neolithic tomb was deliberately blocked during the Later Neolithic and there is also evidence of Beaker period activity within the tomb. And the Stone settings within the Henge at Avebury were still being maintained and used. From their earliest construction Stonehenge and Avebury were individual components within landscapes in which the visual relationships between monuments and the contingent histories of particular places were important. There was a strong visual relationship between the round barrow cemeteries surrounding Stonehenge and Avebury and the pre-existing Later Neolithic monuments. This is perhaps more readily apparent today at Stonehenge with among others the King Barrow Ridge Barrows, the Cursus Barrows, the Normanton Down Barrows and the Winterbourne Stoke Barrows all built on prominent ridges within the landscape and situated in direct relationship to earlier monuments. In the Early Bronze Age Stonehenge was linked physically with the River Avon by the construction of an Avenue consisting of a pair of parallel banks and ditches. At the Avenue’s junction with the Avon at West Amesbury stood a small henge which appears to have contained a stone circle (both of which are of uncertain date), and from which the stones were subsequently removed. The construction of the portion of the Avenue stretching from Stonehenge Bottom to the north-eastern entrance to Stonehenge coincides with the path of what appear to be a series of parallel peri-glacial stripes. It has been suggested that the pre-existence of this natural feature, oriented as it is on the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset may be the reason for the construction of not only the later Avenue but of Stonehenge itself. At some point in the Earlier Bronze Age or possibly earlier a large wooden palisade situated running to the west and north of Stonehenge would have had a transformative effect on the landscape dividing it up in an entirely new way, disrupting visual relationships between monuments and possibly restricting access to some areas and monuments for certain groups. Later Bronze Age (1600–1000 BC) Some of the round barrows in both landscapes have Middle Bronze Age cremations but no major new monuments were built at this time. Over much of the Marlborough Downs there are Bronze Age field systems which post date Beaker period deposits and on Overton Down pre date a number of Late Bronze Age settlements which then adapted and modified the existing field systems. There is evidence for a diverse range of activities in the area around Stonehenge during the Later Bronze Age including formalised settlements and field systems in some areas of the Stonehenge landscape. Linear banks and ditches, such as those across Wilsford Down and Lake Down, formally divided up the landscape. Although they encroached as far as the Cursus field systems are absent from the immediate area surrounding Stonehenge itself. Iron Age (c 800 BC– AD 43) At Avebury the principal evidence for late Iron Age occupation comes from the hillforts beyond the WHS, such as Oldbury and the more distant Barbury. On the Marlborough Downs the pattern of Late Bronze Age fields and settlements continued into the Early Iron Age and the settlements continued in use among the fields on the higher downland. But while major enclosures such as these indicate a significant Iron Age presence in the region, little evidence of Iron Age settlement or agriculture is apparent in the Avebury area. Likewise there is little evidence for the continued ceremonial status of Stonehenge itself in later prehistory. The farming activities which were practised within the WHS in the Iron 288 Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site Management Plan 2015 Appendices Age have left little evidence, though an impressive hill fort was constructed near Amesbury, now known as Vespasian’s Camp. Roman (c 43–410 AD) The occurrence of Romano-British artefacts at Stonehenge itself shows that the monument was visited and used at that time; recent excavations have shown that a ‘shaft’ was dug into the monument during this period. However the pattern of these artefacts suggests that Stonehenge was already partly ruinous. Farmsteads and small un-enclosed towns of the Roman period are known across Salisbury Plain. Within the WHS itself, a small Roman building interpreted as a rural shrine has been excavated near to the Cuckoo Stone and a short distance to the south a Bronze Age barrow became a focal point for Roman burials. At Avebury a Roman ladder settlement of 2nd to 3rd century date lay immediately south of Silbury Hill close to Swallowhead springs and the Winterbourne and beside the Roman road running west from Cunetio to Bath. The settlement’s size and location, together with the presence of a series of shafts containing what may be votive deposits, suggest something more than a mere farming settlement. Geophysical survey has revealed what may be either a mausoleum or a shrine of the period. Evidence also exists of substantial buildings and at least one burial on the western slopes of Waden Hill beside the Winterbourne. To the east on Overton Hill rare Roman barrows were built beside the road of the same period. Saxon (c AD 410–1066) There is evidence of an early Saxon settlement at Avebury itself, on the site of the current visitor car park, together with pagan Saxon barrows and other burials reusing the Bronze Age cemetery on Overton Hill. From the late Saxon period onwards there is documentary as well as archaeological evidence of the development of the landscape. Saxon charters provide evidence of the estates which came to form the medieval parishes and identify various features which the boundaries followed or crossed, including the Ridgeway which cuts across the prehistoric and Roman field systems on Overton Down. Green Street leading out of Avebury to the east was probably part of an important east-west route at this period if not before. Evidence for the Saxon origins of Avebury church is still apparent in its fabric. In the late Saxon period the summit of Silbury Hill was remodelled and a wooden fortification constructed, possibly to serve as a lookout post. Amesbury was the centre for a widespread royal estate during the Saxon period, and the abbey was founded in AD 979. It is probable that the town itself grew up around these establishments but little is known of the way in which the surrounding landscape was utilised. However, the remains of several Saxon sunken-featured buildings were revealed at the Countess East site which may have been an early Saxon settlement which later shifted to the town of Amesbury. Stonehenge itself may have become an execution site during this period; a decapitated Saxon man was buried around AD 645 at the monument. It is even possible that the name, Stonehenge from the Saxon stone and heng may refer to this function, or may mean that, to Saxon eyes, the great stone trilithons resembled a gallows. Alternatively it may simply refer to the extraordinary hanging lintels of the Stone Circle. Medieval to Modern (AD 1066 onwards) In the 12th century the alien cell of a Benedictine priory was established at Avebury, probably on, or close to the site of the present Avebury Manor. A documented run of bad harvests in the early 14th century, which resulted in the desertion of the downland farmstead on Fyfield Down, followed by the Black Death later marked the end of early medieval expansion. Marginal arable reverted to pasture and there is evidence of settlement contraction or shift in most of the settlements along the Kennet, including Avebury itself and Avebury Trusloe. From the 14th century onwards the practice of stone burial reduced many of the Avebury megalithic settings significantly. This process accelerated during the post-medieval period with Stukeley recording a period of particularly rampant stone destruction in the 1720s; though archaeological evidence suggests that the destruction may have started as early as the late 15th century. The earliest surviving parts of Avebury Manor date to the mid-16th century. It is at about this time and during the 17th century that parts of the common downland pasture on West Hill, Windmill Hill and Knoll Down were enclosed. Most of the open fields were not enclosed until the 18th century, but a notable exception, still extant, was the enclosure of an area just east of the West Kennet Avenue. Parts of the meadowland along the valley floor at Avebury were enclosed in the 17th century, and at various points along the floor of the valley, at Avebury and around the foot of Silbury Hill. At West Overton and Avebury there are the earthworks of managed water meadow systems some probably originating in the 17th century and surviving in use until the 19th or early 20th century. Parliamentary enclosure occurred in 1795 at Avebury and in 1813 to 1814 at Winterbourne Monkton and the Overton group of parishes, resulting in the creation of large rectangular fields, many bounded by quickset hedges, alongside the more limited areas of old enclosure. The Napoleonic Wars saw a re-expansion of arable, and this became even more marked Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site Management Plan 2015 Appendices 289 around the time of the First World War and then again after the Second World War when much remaining downland was ploughed up. In the post-medieval and modern era there have been elements of conscious design in the development of the landscape in and around Avebury, reflecting different attitudes to the concept of landscape. This includes the 17th century designed parkland belonging to Avebury Manor and the tree clumps, known locally as ‘hedgehogs’, on the barrows along the skyline of the Ridgeway scarp east of Avebury. In the 1920s and 1930s Alexander Keiller embarked on his remarkable campaign of ‘megalithic landscape gardening’. This not only opened up the interior of the Henge, removing a number of buildings, but also involved restoration and reconstruction of substantial parts of Avebury Stone Circles and the West Kennet Avenue – making them far more visible features in the landscape than they had been for hundreds of years. During the medieval period most of the Stonehenge part of the WHS reverted to downland used for the grazing of large flocks of sheep. In the 18th century Stukeley recorded much of the landscape at the point when arable agriculture was progressively expanding. However, it was the vast expanses of open grassland and the low land values which made the Plain suitable for acquisition for military training from 1897 onwards. Since then, the expansion and reconfiguration of military installations has been the most conspicuous use of the southern fringe of Salisbury Plain Training Area, including the northern part of the WHS. However, the acquisition of the Plain by the military has ensured the survival of huge numbers of archaeological sites and large areas of chalk grassland, as it was not subjected to intensive agricultural techniques. Until the 18th century the extent of woodland around Stonehenge seems to have been minimal. The clumps of trees on ridgelines which we now associate with this landscape were a product of planting in the 18th and 19th centuries. There are a number of listed buildings within the WHS and also the remains of an important park and garden at Amesbury Abbey, which once stretched as far as King Barrow Ridge. It incorporated the planting on Vespasian’s Camp and the ‘Nile Clumps’ which date to this period. Provided by Dr Nick Snashall, Archaeologist (Stonehenge and Avebury WHS), National Trust