ABSTRACT
Garden archaeology has, over the last two decades, become a distinct subdiscipline within post-medieval archaeology, in both Britain and America (Brown (ed.) 1991; Currie and Locock 1991; Kelso 1992; Taylor 1983). But in Britain especially, the subject has, with few exceptions, been mainly concerned with the practical business of surveying and recording the physical remains of early designed landscapes, rather than with interpreting these in social terms. Archaeology in the former restricted sense has certainly made a major contribution to our understanding of early designed landscapes in Britain. Excavation has been important in a number of contexts (Currie and Locock 1991), but of particular significance has been the impact of field survey and aerial photography (Taylor 1996). It is, however, arguable that some of this work has concentrated on earthworks to the exclusion of standing structures – enclosure walls, garden buildings. Planting too has received less attention than it might have done (Phibbs 1983). Trees can be dated, within broad limits of accuracy, on the basis of their size and position (Mitchell 1971: 25); while their present growth habit can provide evidence about how they were managed in the past (whether headed, pollarded, topiaried or whatever) (Taigel and Williamson 1993: 23–9). Meticulous analysis of relict vegetation has been a feature of some of the best work on designed landscapes in England, but much of this has been carried out as part of management or restoration projects by professional consultants, and unfortunately remains unpublished.
