Professor Stephen Rippon, Professor of Landscape Archaeology at the University of Exeter and President of the Society for Medieval Archaeology, presents ‘The Origins of the Gwent Levels drainage system in the medieval period’.
This talk explores how today’s landscape on the Gwent Levels came into being during the medieval period (around 1,000-500 years ago). It will show how human communities changed from simply exploiting the wetlands’ rich natural resources to changing the character of the landscape through building sea walls and digging drainage ditches.
The different character of settlement patterns and field systems across the Levels appear to relate to the various communities who lived there including Welsh, English and Flemish, as well as the monks of Tintern Abbey.
Please note, there are some issues with sound quality at the beginning of this recording.
Lost Landscapes
Our Lost Landscapes project uses digital reconstructions to show the Levels landscape at different stages in its long history.