an archaeology of the east midlands. class 7, beeston winter 2015

An Archaeology of the East Midlands

Class 7: The East Midlands, 1500-1900

Tutor: Keith Challis

east-midlands-archaeology.blogspot.co.uk Beeston 2015

Recap: Last Week

• Pre-Conquest Towns

– Towns Before the Vikings– The Five Boroughs– Reconquest Towns and Burhs in Mercia

• Post Conquest Towns– Medieval Nottingham


Class Summary

• Transitions (Discussion)• The Countryside


Section 1:Transitions

Post Medieval Archaeology

• The period of transition from the feudal to the modern industrial world

• Birth of modern rural landscape (enclosure)

• Industrialisation of countryside and town• Rapid population growth (doubles

between 1540 and 1650)

• Increase in the landless poor• For most growing standard of living – birth

of middle class artisan / yeoman farmer• East Midlands a modern political construct

– not always a useful way of looking at this period

• Mixture of rich agricultural land, wood-pasture, upland and proto-industry


Post Medieval Archaeology

• Complexity of an often ignored archaeological record

• “Recent disturbance” treated with the contempt reserved for the familiar!

• New building techniques lead to reduction in build up of stratified urban deposits post c 1300

• Many surviving vernacular buildings (often unrecognised)

• Physical remains in landscape (superficially timeless, but constant attrition)

• High quality documentary resource including maps


Transitions

Discussion

•What changes overtook the East Midlands in the period 1600-1900?

Think about broad changes affecting towns and the countryside and in particular how each are best evidenced (by archaeology or by documentary history?)

Can you come up with one solid example of significant change (enclosure/industrial growth/population movement, etc.) that is evidenced best by archaeology?


Transitions

Urban Transitions

•Rising urban population leads to infilling of spaces in Medieval towns – slum creation•Little study of urban poor•Increasing industrialisation of towns•No single town dominated EM•Varying character – eg Nottingham constrained by surrounding fields but x3 population between 1600 and 1739

east-midlands-archaeology.blogspot.co.uk

Knob Yard, Narrow Marsh, Nottingham, 1914 by T.W. Hammond

Beeston 2015

Transitions

Industrial Innovation•EM at heart of industrial revolution•Iron, coal, lead, textiles regionally important

•Earliest industry part of a dual economy mixing agriculture and industry – small scale, rural based•Growth in demand leads to industrialisation, creation of mills and factories•Transition from Charcoal Iron to Coke fired furnaces increased exploitation of E Mids Coal field


Coalbrookdale by Night by Philip James de Loutherbourg

Beeston 2015

Transitions

Agricultural Change•Gradual change in agrarian economy•Regionalisation – experimentation with new crops, drainage, water meadows, enclosure – initially through amalgamation of holdings•Abandonments of rural settlements 1450-85, 1504-09•Growing social stratification and landless poor•Squatting•Origins of mechanised agriculture


Transitions


Section 2: The Countryside

The Countryside


The Countryside

• .


The Countryside


The Countryside


Laxton


The Countryside

The Country House•“Landscapes of display” – twin elements of house and park

•Origins in opportunities created by Dissolution and Sale of Royal Forest for wealth landowners to acquire large estates•“Old gentry” built manor houses at heart of manor, usually in villages•“New” great houses built in isolation on newly acquired rural estates•Fashion for large parks and gardens lead to forced relocation of villages


Wollaton Hall and Park by Jan Siberechts

Beeston 2015

The Countryside

The Country House•Both houses and parks not static but in constant state of change•Archaeological and architectural study reveals their development•In general evolution from Tudor houses (superseding obsolete castles) either manorial or on post-Dissolution estates•Elizabethan designed houses (Hardwick, Longleat, Wollaton, etc.)•Inigo Jones Palladianism – venetian neo-classical style with porticos and other classical features•18th century Baroque and Neoclassical•19th century industrial wealth and revivalist styles


The Countryside

The Country House•Garden designs change from Tudor formal, regular gardens to sweeping landscape vistas and pseudo naturalism of Capability Brown•All required land, huge expenditure in time, effort and money


Hardwick


Hardwick

• A rare largely intact 16th century great house and 17th century landscape park

• Estate origins lay in 400 acres of land owned by John Hardwick (d 1507) around Hardwick

• James Hardwick (d 1581) purchased land to enlarge the estate and created the first park between 1547 and 1570

• He died bankrupt in 1581 and the estate went into receivership


G. Gardner. Hardwick from the East 1800

Beeston 2015

Hardwick

• James’s daughter, Elisabeth (Bess) although of modest birth acquired wealth (including recovering the Hardwick estate) and land through a series of advantageous marriages

• Her final marriage to George Talbot (Earl of Shrewsbury) was difficult

• Bess developed Hardwick as an insurance policy for her and her sons given the precarious nature of her marriage to George


Hardwick

• .


Hardwick Estate 1610

Beeston 2015

Hardwick

• Old Hall. Built 1587 – 91. Essentially a late medieval great house, but with innovative architectural features and impressive interior decoration. Parts (south and west walls) pre-date Bess’s building work and may be part of an earlier house


Hardwick

• New Hall, built following the death of George (Bess became very wealthy!)

• Designed by Robert Smythson and built between 1591 and 1597

• Its design symbolised Bess’s wealth and status

• It was architecturally innovative, for example including unprecedented sizes and numbers of windows


• After Bess’s death in 1608 her son Henry inherited and after his death in 1616 William, who was created First Earl of Devonshire in 1618

• By the mid 17th century Chatsworth had become the principal residence of the Devonshires although Hardwick was still used and extensive works done on the Park

• The 4th Earl rebuilt Chatsworth and landscapes the park there – after 1700 Hardwick was rarely lived in although the house an park were kept up and much of the park let for grazing

• The 6th Duke (d 1858) improved the house and estate and the 7th Duke developed it as a hunting and sporting estate

• After the death of the 9th Duke in 1938 Hardwick was used as a Dower House for Evelyn, his widow, who lived there until her death in 1960

Hardwick


Further Study

Assignment

Take a look at Marilyn Palmer’s paper on the Leicester Framework Knitters.

Can you summarise the developments in this industry from the 18th to 19th centuries

How did the industry change over this period? What drove the changes? What is the nature of the evidence?


an archaeology of the east midlands. class 7, beeston winter 2015

Education