Farming on the Medieval Fen

Farming on the Medieval Fen

A talk by Professor Susan Oosthuizen

Tuesday 12th May 7pm

This talk offers a new perspective on Cambridgeshire’s medieval peat fenlands, well-known to have been dominated since time immemorial by extensive commons including pastures and meadows, marshes and meres. It shows how essential the rich ecology of different kinds of grasses and herbs were to commoners’ livelihoods and prosperity – and why ‘in no part of England were common rights more important’. It illustrates how, across the centuries, free peasant farmers and stockmen were able to make good livings only because they knew every inch of their local landscapes. And it outlines how their success depended not only on managing their beasts, the varying qualities of different grassland pastures and other fen resources, but also on their mastery of often complex engineering aimed at successfully controlling seasonally variable levels of water across their commons.

Susan Oosthuizen is Professor (Emerita) of Medieval Archaeology in the University of Cambridge. She is particularly interested in commons and the development of landscapes and society between about 400 and 1300 AD, often focusing on Cambridgeshire examples. A list of her publications, both books and papers, often with downloadable copies, can be found at: https://profsusanoosthuizen.wordpress.com. Her most recent books are The Anglo-Saxon Fenland (Windgather, 2017)  and the The Emergence of the English (Arc-Humanities Press, 2019).

Tickets £8.50

Gates open at 6.30pm