A Historic Reason Why Countryside Protection Is A Must…

A Historic Reason Why Countryside Protection Is A Must…

Posted on Mar 14, 2023 by jsw  | Tags: Archaeology, Stonea Camp Archaeology Site

Alongside the obvious ones such as food production and recreation, history itself is a brilliant reason why the countryside is important and deserves protection.

There were fewer building in our countryside in the past, and we didn’t have the sprawling urban areas and infilled spaces we have now. It is important to keep planning laws respectful of our countryside if we want the economic benefits a vibrant, working countryside can bring.  Our countryside can help us to imagine and relate to our history, for example by our appreciation of rural practices, crafts and skills, and a closer relationship to nature. Rural crafts and associated development for careers, hobbies and life-long learning has gained great traction in our countryside recently, after all (Hunt, 2022) – see my personal example of all this in the post script!

People love history and want to see it – it is a major attractor for our tourism sector. National Trust properties, historic landscapes, old fashioned farming areas, historic gardens, Jurassic coasts, old mining and other industrial features are all part of our national heritage and need protection from development. This is indeed why there are historic building conservation surveyors who help to ensure views of historic buildings are not affected by new developments.

It must be noted that in the construction industry, archaeology is becoming a more valuable part of the process, rather than a nuisance, not only because it makes the building project more acceptable to the local community, but because it enables site workers to foster an interest in history and the landscape. The “archer” found in Amesbury is a great example – they named various buildings, including the primary school, after the ancient grave of a richly endowed archer was found in a new development there (Leiver and McKinley, 2022).

Of course, this bring me to an important point – we cannot as easily discover our past if it is all built on (not very many people would be happy to have carparks dug up as they had to do to find the remains of Richard III).  It puts more restraint on irresponsible builders who want to build at whatever cost for their gains. There must be responsibilities placed upon developers that make them more accountable to the local community, the natural world and countryside preservation, and archaeology is one such aspect of this. Construction companies should endeavour to use archaeology to add value to their projects, not just in monetary terms. Sustainability and other values are far more important because they contribute more in monetary value across the board – for example, economic wealth comes from good health and wellbeing, which comes from the environment, people’s accessibility to other benefits and inspiration to pursue interests themselves (Knight et al., 2022).

So, access to archaeology parks, information of sites, monuments, relatable reading materials and landscapes is important.  For example, Stonea Camp, a locally important site near me that spanned centuries, should never be built on – ever. I enjoyed a wonderful visit, with information boards explaining the site and its significance. Sites like these are a valuable educational and multiuse resource, encouraging children out of school and learning in the open – what is there not to like?

Archaeology often seems to be linked to the stars – Stonehenge and many other ancient monuments across the world were built by the ancients as a result of their study of the night sky. During my discovery of the ancients I came to realise the importance of the stars, moon and sun - people gazed upon the dark skies to be entertained, built temples and large monuments to reflect the alignments, and delved into the art of determining their fates from astrology. After all, there was very little light pollution compared to now! The night was very dark back then, and a way to connect to the world of the ancients is to enjoy the starry skies - because of some planning and countryside protection wins and there is a better chance of this in future! To read a blog on Dark Skies and see what CPRE is doing go to: https://www.cpre.org.uk/discover/in-praise-of-the-night/.  I'm certainly going to try to hold a dark skies visit at Rings End Local Nature Reserve, which is in the middle of arable lands.

As well as for star-gazing, protecting our landscape is valuable for yet another reason: we do not know what lies beneath. Metal detectorists have always - in random places and for random reasons (one example is being hired by a farmer to find a lost tool in his field) – found treasures. The example I used here earthed up a vast treasure hoard buried when the Romans were leaving Britain; around 410AD (Morris, 2022). Our untouched countryside is, then, literally, very, very valuable – both in material terms and otherwise. The countryside, with its boundary features, old river beds (roddons in the fens), peatlands, medieval furrows, ancient green lanes and so on holds many important clues to our past.

So, the links between countryside protection and history and archaeology are very strong and have many benefits - in case the powers-that-be needs yet another reason why the countryside deserves protection …

P.S. another reason is rather a personal one – but one that can be shared – I have joined a local Living History Group who meet on the field of Burwell Castle, learning combat in Anglo-Saxon dress! Here is their website: https://www.grantanbrycg.co.uk/ - how fun is this? They also do public events, demonstrating how people in the past lived. What a wonderful hobby to have, and way to educate and entertain people, too!

References:

Hunt, C (2022) ‘The Countryside Guide to… Rural skills and training., NFU Countryside, January 2023.

Knight, H., et al (2022) ‘Building wellbeing: Archaeology inside the hoarding’, British Archaeology, November/December 2022.

Leivers, M. and McKinley, J. (2022) ‘The Amesbury Archer 20 years on’, British Archaeology, November/December 2022.

Morris, M (2022) The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England. Penguin.

Stonea Camp Archaeology Site