The Archaeology of Britain: An introduction from ... - waughfamily.ca

• 278 • Ian Whyte
Buxton, Derbyshire, demonstrates
the effect of new urban design on a
smaller centre. Sea bathing also had
its attractions: Scarborough
developed from the early eighteenth
century, and royal patronage
encouraged the development of
Brighton and Weymouth in the late
eighteenth century, by which time
Blackpool was just beginning to
achieve local prominence as a
summer resort.
The development of industrial
towns in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries was often, by
contrast, unplanned and piecemeal.
In areas like south Wales and
Figure 15.8 Royal Crescent, Bath: classical urban symmetry.
Lancashire, new towns mushroomed
from nothing within a few
Source: I. Whyte
years. Factory owners still often lived close to their workers but only a few laid out planned
housing developments for them, like Sir John Morris, the copper magnate, at Morriston near
Swansea from c.1793.
CONCLUSION
Despite limitations of space, it is hoped that this chapter has been able to convey the sheer range
and vitality of the changes that occurred in landscapes and townscapes during a period that has
often been written off as a mere appendage to the concerns of ‘proper’ archaeology. In future,
the application of archaeological approaches and techniques to the remains of the early modern
period and even the industrial era seems more assured. Increasing interest in Britain’s industrial
past, witnessed by heritage attractions and industrial museums, should help to place archaeology
within this period on a firmer footing, a trend already evident in the work of many archaeological
research and rescue units.
Key texts
Crossley, D., 1990. Post medieval archaeology in Britain. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
Dodgshon, R.A. and Butlin, R.A. (eds) 1990. An historical geography of England and Wales. London: Academic
Press. 2 edn.
Hoskins, W.G., 1955. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder.
Rackham, O., 1986. The History of the countryside. London: Dent.
Whyte, I.D. and Whyte, K.A., 1991. Scotland’s changing landscape 1500–1800. London: Routledge.
Bibliography
Atkin, M. and Howes, R., 1993. ‘The use of archaeology and documentary sources in identifying the Civil
War defences of Gloucester’, Post Medieval Archaeology 27, 15–42.
Ayres, B., 1991. ‘Post medieval archaeology in Norwich: a review’, Post Medieval Archaeology 25, 1–24.
Bil, A., 1990. The shieling 1600–1840. The case of the central Scottish Highlands. Edinburgh: John Donald.
Bowler, D. and Catchart, R., 1994. ‘Tay Street, Perth: the excavation of an early harbour site’, Proceedings of
the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 124, 467–489.