'The Spade Might Soon Determine It': The Representation of Deserted Medieval Villages on Ordnance Survey Plans, 1849–1910
- Title
- 'The Spade Might Soon Determine It': The Representation of Deserted Medieval Villages on Ordnance Survey Plans, 1849–1910
- Creator(s)
- Beresford, Maurice
- Date
- 1992
- Is Part Of
- The Agricultural History Review
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 64-70
- Language
- eng
- ISSN
- 0002-1490
- Abstract
- From its earliest days the Ordnance Survey had an interest in recording the earthworks of antiquity. For the large-scale plans the information gathered from the surveyors in the field was supplemented by correspondence with knowledgable local scholars. The earthworks from medieval villages although numerous were generally ignored except for the East Riding of Yorkshire where, largely through the interest of Capt. John Bayly, RE, FSA (1821–1905), the first edition of the six-inch map detailed twentyfive sites. At the revisions of 1890–1909 the interpretation of these earthworks came into question: the replies of local correspondents, surviving in the OS archive, show considerable scepticism but the better-informed invoked documentary sources, while one –in a phrase embodied in the title of this article – urged abitration by excavation, a course which medieval archaeology has eventually followed.
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