THREAD. Maurice Beresford’s 1954 study of #deserted #medieval villages was a game-changer. He showed that few #villages were lost as a result of the Black Death of 1348-50. Most were lost c1450-1540. Some disappeared because they were too small to be viable ...
2. ..others were forcibly deserted by landowners making the profitable shift from arable farming (corn prices falling as fewer mouths to feed) to more profitable & much less labour-intensive wool production by converting open fields to pasture; eg Stretton Baskerville, Warwicks
3. The distribution of deserted medieval villages (map of 2002 of those known in 1968) shows how closely their occurrence follows that of large-scale open fields which covered most of the area of a parish. (Both maps archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/arch…)
4. (The region between the two black lines - roughly across the centre of England from SW to NE - is that of large-scale open fields, ie parishes that were mostly focused on growing grain.)
5. The true number of DMVs remains unknown - Beresford’s figures, even updated, are still a significant underestimate. Eg., only 16 were known in Cambs. in 1977. *Another 43* were added in 2009. All 59 are shown as black circles on this map. academia.edu/1815087/Oosthu…
6. Exploring DMVs in your area is easy & fun - with lots of accessible sources: place-names, parish histories, archaeology, documentary evidence, maps. AND there’s plenty to find out from @MedSettRG & @beresfords_dmv incl the latter’s brilliant website beresfordslostvillages.wordpress.com END
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