Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape

Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape PDF Author: Aljos Farjon
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
ISBN: 9781842466407
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
England has more ancient native oak trees than the rest of Europe combined. How did that come about? The reasons are all historical, and nothing to do with climate or soil factors. This story goes back to the Norman conquest of England in 1066. They created Royal Forests, chases and deer parks, where only the nobility could hunt or keep deer and it was forbidden to cut the trees. This was, if you like, an early form of nature conservation, but for the sake of privileged hunting. Preservation of these oaks further continued through a combination of private ownership of thousands of parks, conservatism of the landowners, overseas timber availability and the absence of ruining wars on the English landscape; the majority of which had been confined to the continent. Modernisation of forestry in England only took hold after 1920, and by that stage too late to destroy all of the old and worthless hollow trees. In contrast, modern forestry was introduced on the continent at least 200 years earlier, with devastating results for ancient trees. We owe the ancient oaks to all these circumstances which created a unique 'population' of ancient oaks, highly important for biodiversity and an asset unique to England. In this book Aljos Farjon combines history with science and tells the story of how ancient oaks have shaped the English landscape over the past 1000 years. The two native species of oak, pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) and sessile oak (Q. petraea) are among the longest living trees in England. And using data made available by 'citizen science' (data gathered by volunteers across the country) Aljos explains this remarkable situation by giving detailed evidence, enhanced with beautiful images of these stunning oaks as well as graphs and maps.

Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape

Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape PDF Author: Aljos Farjon
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
ISBN: 9781842466407
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
England has more ancient native oak trees than the rest of Europe combined. How did that come about? The reasons are all historical, and nothing to do with climate or soil factors. This story goes back to the Norman conquest of England in 1066. They created Royal Forests, chases and deer parks, where only the nobility could hunt or keep deer and it was forbidden to cut the trees. This was, if you like, an early form of nature conservation, but for the sake of privileged hunting. Preservation of these oaks further continued through a combination of private ownership of thousands of parks, conservatism of the landowners, overseas timber availability and the absence of ruining wars on the English landscape; the majority of which had been confined to the continent. Modernisation of forestry in England only took hold after 1920, and by that stage too late to destroy all of the old and worthless hollow trees. In contrast, modern forestry was introduced on the continent at least 200 years earlier, with devastating results for ancient trees. We owe the ancient oaks to all these circumstances which created a unique 'population' of ancient oaks, highly important for biodiversity and an asset unique to England. In this book Aljos Farjon combines history with science and tells the story of how ancient oaks have shaped the English landscape over the past 1000 years. The two native species of oak, pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) and sessile oak (Q. petraea) are among the longest living trees in England. And using data made available by 'citizen science' (data gathered by volunteers across the country) Aljos explains this remarkable situation by giving detailed evidence, enhanced with beautiful images of these stunning oaks as well as graphs and maps.

Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape

Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape PDF Author: Aljos Farjon
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781842467664
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book Here

Book Description


Felling the Ancient Oaks

Felling the Ancient Oaks PDF Author: John Martin Robinson
Publisher: Aurum Press
ISBN: 9781845136703
Category : Architecture, Domestic
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
A stunning visual record of England's most spectacular and scenic country estates that were broken up for sale and lost for ever. A sweeping country estate, with grand house and spectacular gardens and park, would not be the first impression of a visitor to modern suburban Watford. But well into the twentieth century that was exactly what was there – the magnificence of the Cassiobury estate, of which only a modest municipal park survives. Underneath the expanse of Rutland Water lies the once splendid Normanton estate, while Deepdene in Surrey is now memorialised only by an ugly office block. Fortunately, at least photographs live on to remind us of how the landscape looked before death duties, mining subsidence and sometimes the plain impecuniousness of the black sheep in the family took their toll and forced the break-up of all too many historic landed estates. In this elegiac book, a successor to Aurum’s Lost Victorian Britain, John Robinson surveys 20 of the most egregious losses, from Costessy in East Anglia to Lathom in Lancashire, and shows how the deer park, the home farm, the parterre and the cottage garden gave way to the power station, the motorway and the caravan park.

Ancient Roman Gardens

Ancient Roman Gardens PDF Author: Elisabeth B. MacDougall
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks
ISBN: 9780884021001
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Get Book Here

Book Description


Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape

Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape PDF Author: Oliver Rackham
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 1474614051
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Get Book Here

Book Description
A beautifully written classic of nature writing. 'A masterly account...of supreme interest...a classic' Country Life Long accepted as the best work on the subject, Oliver Rackham's book is both a comprehensive history of Britain's woodland and a field-work guide that presents trees individually and as part of the landscape. From prehistoric times, through the Roman period and into the Middle Ages, Oliver Rackham describes the changing character, role and history of trees and woodland. He concludes this definitive study with a section on the conservation and future of Britain's trees, woodlands and hedgerows.

The Oak Papers

The Oak Papers PDF Author: James Canton
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063037971
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 197

Get Book Here

Book Description
"A profound meditation on the human need for connection with nature, as one man seeks solace beneath the bows of an ancient oak tree."—Peter Wohlleben, author of The Hidden Life of Trees "James Canton knows so much, writes so well and understands so deeply about the true forest magic and the important place these trees have in it. Knowledge and joy."— Sara Maitland, author of How to Be Alone Joining the ranks of The Hidden Life of Trees and H is for Hawk, an evocative memoir and ode to one of the most majestic living things on earth—the oak tree—probing the mysteries of nature and the healing role it plays in our lives. Thrown into turmoil by the end of his long-term relationship, Professor James Canton spent two years meditating [PA1]beneath the welcoming shelter of the massive 800-year-old Honywood Oak tree in North Essex, England. While considering the direction of his own life, he began to contemplate the existence of this colossus tree. Standing in England for centuries, the oak would have been a sapling when the Magna Carta was signed in 1215. In this beautiful, transportive book, Canton tells the story of this tree in its ecological, spiritual, literary, and historical contexts, using it as a prism to see his own life and human history. The Oak Papers is a reflection on change and transformation, and the role nature has played in sustaining and redeeming us. Canton examines our long-standing dependency on the oak, and how that has developed and morphed into myth and legend. We no longer need these sturdy trees to build our houses and boats, to fuel our fires, or to grind their acorns into flour in times of famine. What purpose, then, do they serve in our world today? Are these miracles of nature no longer necessary to our lives? What can they offer us? Taking inspiration from the literary world—Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, Katherine Basford’s Green Man, Thomas Hardy, William Shakespeare, and others—Canton ponders the wondrous magic of nature and the threats its faces, from human development to climate change, implores us to act as responsible stewards to conserve what is precious, and reminds us of the lessons we can learn from the world around us, if only we slow down enough to listen.

Reading the Forested Landscape

Reading the Forested Landscape PDF Author: Tom Wessels
Publisher: Nature
ISBN: 9780881504200
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 199

Get Book Here

Book Description
Chronicles the forest in New England from the Ice Age to current challenges

Oak and Ash and Thorn

Oak and Ash and Thorn PDF Author: Peter Fiennes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1786071673
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Get Book Here

Book Description
A Guardian Best Nature Book of the Year The magic and mystery of the woods are embedded in culture, from ancient folklore to modern literature. They offer us refuge: a place to play, a place to think. They are the generous providers of timber and energy. They let us dream of other ways of living. Yet we now face a future where taking a walk in the woods is consigned to the tales we tell our children. Immersing himself in the beauty of woodland Britain, Peter Fiennes explores our long relationship with the woods and the sad and violent story of how so many have been lost. Just as we need them, our woods need us too. But who, if anyone, is looking out for them?

Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia

Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia PDF Author: Jeffrey Quilter
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks
ISBN: 9780884022947
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 448

Get Book Here

Book Description
The lands between Mesoamerica and the Central Andes are famed for the rich diversity of ancient cultures that inhabited them. Throughout this vast region, from about AD 700 until the sixteenth-century Spanish invasion, a rich and varied tradition of goldworking was practiced. The amount of gold produced and worn by native inhabitants was so great that Columbus dubbed the last New World shores he sailed as Costa Rica—the "Rich Coast." Despite the long-recognized importance of the region in its contribution to Pre-Columbian culture, very few books are readily available, especially in English, on these lands of gold. Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia now fills that gap with eleven articles by leading scholars in the field. Issues of culture change, the nature of chiefdom societies, long-distance trade and transport, ideologies of value, and the technologies of goldworking are covered in these essays as are the role of metals as expressions and materializations of spiritual, political, and economic power. These topics are accompanied by new information on the role of stone statuary and lapidary work, craft and trade specialization, and many more topics, including a reevaluation of the concept of the "Intermediate Area." Collectively, the volume provides a new perspective on the prehistory of these lands and includes articles by Latin American scholars whose writings have rarely been published in English.

Garden History

Garden History PDF Author: John Dixon Hunt
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks
ISBN: 9780884021971
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 1542

Get Book Here

Book Description
"This collection of essays explores the issues, methods, and approaches that students in landscape architecture have developed during that period to cope with the expanding subject of gardens and their history. The volume will serve as a bench mark in the field, with its range of approaches and wealth of illustrative material. Each contributor focuses upon a specific piece of his or her research, and uses this as a basis to discuss the wider implications of the study of gardens within such contexts as botanical, horticultural, agrarian, literary, technological, social, culture, political, and art history" -- Provided by publisher