A legal history of the English landscape
By: Christopher Jessel
Publisher: Wildy, Simmonds & Hill Pub.
Published: 2011
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 210
ISBN-13: 9780854900879
Subjects: Land tenure; Landscape changes; Law and legislation; Law; History
Description: "A Legal History of the English Landscape is an engaging account of how the law has played a pivotal role in shaping the English landscape through the ages. Adopting a broadly chronological approach, the book begins with prehistory and continues through Roman and Anglo-Saxon times. It examines the foundations of English land law as laid down by the Normans and developed throughout the Middle Ages. The author explores how landed property became seen as the focus of society by the seventeenth century and how ownership rights were protected to such an extent that they inhibited change. As society evolved, once-important laws became obsolete and the author shows how later generations were able to adapt or circumvent them for their own needs. The book describes how Parliament intervened to rearrange the landscape in the Enclosure Movement, authorised the building of roads, canals and railways and encouraged the development of industry and towns. The account concludes with a view of the modern law in an era of public access to land, environmental protection and European legislation. By setting land law in the wider context of changes in society, A Legal History of the English Landscape will appeal not just to lawyers and historians, but to the general reader with an interest in the English landscape"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [195]-197) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Prehistoric to AD 43; title: Roman, AD 43 to 450; title: Early Saxon, 450 to 867; title: The making of the open fields, 867 to 1066; title: Norman, 1066 to 1154; title: Medieval landholding, 1154 to 1348; title: Courts, charters and statutes, 1154 to 1348; title: Security and property, 1348 to 1660; title: Law and the king, 1348 to 1660; title: Landed estates, 1660 to 1900; title: Enclosure and inclosure, 1660 to 1900; title: Roads, canals and railways, 1660 to 1900; title: Industry and business, 1660 to 1900; title: Towns, 1660 to 1900; title: The twentieth century, 1900 to 2000; title: The law of the landscape today.