ABSTRACT
The Roman Empire bequeathed an impressive heritage of law and language to its successors, but it is in its building and engineering feats that it is most often remembered. Similarly the British Empire has left behind a formidable heritage in tangible form, whose essential unity across the globe requires exploration in a post-colonial age. The British Empire has passed into history as decolonisation has fragmented one of the largest world empires in the course of the last half century. In agricultural terms indigenous African and Indian farming methods in hot and dry lands contributed markedly to the European agriculture in regions where British settlers had few inherited landmarks. The British government also maintained a wide ranging correspondence between the authorities in London and the colonial administrations. Empires have left imprints in many forms, but most recognisably in erected structures and plans.
