ABSTRACT

A survey of the historical geography of rural settlement has no direct predecessor, although progress in historical geography (Prince, in Cooke and Johnson, 1969, pp.110–22; Baker, 1972 et seq; Prince, 1971; Prince, in Brown, 1980, pp.229–250), rural settlement (Baker, in Cooke and Johnson, 1969, pp.123–32; Cloke, 1979) and rural geography (Pacione, 1984) have been well charted. To sever the theme from the broader matrices of geography and historical geography is difficult, while the fact that historical geographers normally work closely with other disciplines (Prince, in Brown, 1980), pp.235–38) adds further difficulties. Nevertheless, recognising that progress assessments are essentially an interpretation of events, a prime objective is to review some of the work in the field. The date of 1980 has been used as a primary threshold, but this has not been slavishly adhered to, and some substantially earlier key references are incor-porated. Current research varies greatly in character: variations in scale and time are to be expected, but there are also important variations in objectives and methods. Within the published materials examined three distinct approaches can be identified; first, many studies are empirical, concerned with the use of often intractable sources to reconstruct some aspects of settlement conditions in the past (Baker et al., 1970). This is a legitimate exercise, indeed constitutes foundation work, for as the historian Elton pointed out (1969, p.34), knowledge and judgement only come via ‘the painful mapping of the advancing frontier’. Second, placing particular cases within a broader framework of scholarship always demands study of the processes affecting settlement. Third, as experience, understanding, and perception of possible explanatory concepts expands, theoretical components are increasingly included.