Section 4 - Using the archival materials in the field

The maps and images can be used in conjunction with field studies to help students understand how the landscapes which they are visiting and observing have changed over time. Three different areas are used:

• Studland
• Durlston and
• Parkstone (Poole) in section 5.

Sample Learning Activity 4.1

Background

Studland is one of the coastal locations most visited by schools. The development of the dunes and the plant succession associated with each depositional phase is a common focus of field studies here. Students rarely, however, have the opportunity to investigate the ways in which the area was settled and used and what this tells us about the way in which this coast has changed both naturally and as part of the local economy.

The earliest statement about the use of this coast is in the Domesday Book which says that at Studland “Ibi st. XXXII salinae. redd. XL solid.” translated by Thom, C. & F. (eds) 1983 Domesday Book 7 Dorset Phillimore Chichester as “ Here stand 32 salt-houses which pay 40 shillings ”

The earliest detailed map is a parish map from the late sixteenth century. It was prepared by an Elizabethan land surveyor, Ralph Treswell (c 1540 to 1616). It can be seen by using this link The Treswell map of Studland parish. His surveys of country estates provided detailed information about individual properties, fields and tenements(land holdings). The map of Studland parish, reproduced here by permission of the National Trust, is particularly interesting, because it:

•  provides detailed information about the land holdings and features of one of Britain 's most important coastal dune systems.

•  maps a site which is used for field studies by many students each year

•  provides a baseline for assessing the historical changes on this coast

•  is a very good example of the detail which was included in estate maps as early as the end of the sixteenth century.

•  also illustrates well the importance of understanding the language of cartography.

The map is drawn with east at the top of the map. In the lower left hand area of the map there are TWO linear scales, framed by a drawing of open dividers. The first is “ A Scale of perches at 15 foote 9 inches”, the other “A Scale of perches at 16 foote ½ to ye perche ”. A perch was a measure of length which is the equivalent of 5.5 yards or 5.1 metres. The title to the map reads “ A Survey of the Mannor of Studlande in the Isle of Purbecke in Countie of Dorset measured at 15 foote 9 inches to the pche ”. It was common at the time for different measures of distance to be used on maps. For example, Robert Morden's 1695 map of Dorsetshire has 3 measurements for a mile: a greater mile (2430 yards: 2220 m), a middle mile (2200 yards: 2010m) and a lesser mile (1830 yards: 1672m). None of these is the same as the present-day Statute Mile (1760 yards: 1609 m).

If we look closely at the map we can see fields, each one marked by a symbol. The symbols (“Caracter”) are explained in a table in the top left hand part of the map. . The areas of the holdings are given in acres, roods and square poles, a rood being one quarter acre which equals 40 square poles. Edith Wilshire, for example, had 11 acres and 2 roods in arable and 2 acres, 3 roods and 20 square poles in meadow and pasture, a total of 14 acres, 1 rood and 20 square perches. The table also records the rent and related matters, but these are difficult to decipher.

In 1585-6, the date of the survey, Studland parish had 2130 acres (just over 862 hectares), of which:

•  1210 acres were “The Heathe grounde”

•  173 acres “ The Downe or sheepe pasture”

•  419 acres, 2 roods was arable and

•  just over 138 acres was in pasture and meadow.

There were 24 tenants, of whom 6 were women. The largest holdings were with “Elizabeth , Wife of Ric' Squibb” who had 75 acres of Studland Wood, 180 acres of arable and a little over 16 acres of meadow and pasture. Many tenants' land was divided between several plots. Phillipp Forde, for example, had a plot in Studland village and several more at Salterns at the southern end of Little Sea.

Activity

Bringing the numbers into the modern world

Almost any old document uses different measures from today. It is important that you check the original for its survey method. You can convert historical measures to metric, but ensure that you record the precision to which you convert the values.

Students are asked to tabulate the area of each holding recorded on the map and convert them to metric

Outcome

Students will have a baseline against which to assess later changes in a later activity in which since they locate the plots on the later maps

Sample Learning Activity 4.2

Investigating the changes at Salterne

Background

The Studland map shows that by the late sixteenth century there was already a spit, named as “Burnet poynte”, enclosing “ Litle Sea ”, around which there were fourteen fields held as tenancies in an area named as Salterne and West Salterne.

90 years later, in 1775, William Woodward surveyed and produced “ The Plan of the manor of STUDLAND, in the Isle of Purbeck”. The plots at Salterne were mostly still in use. Woodward records

• 1048 acres of waste ground gained from the sea since “The Great Survey ” (Treswell's survey),
• 220 acres of common pasture
• Studland heath as 1211 acres 3 roods and
• about 800 acres of “(except Talbotts Farm) exceedingly intermix'd and unhandy” farmland.

He regarded the farmland if consolidated into two farms to be worth 12 shillings per acre. That would provide an income of £480 each year compared with £170 from the tenements. This survey was undertaken about the time of the Enclosure Acts when many of the common fields were enclosed. Consolidation of the separate plots into larger units was seen as a means of improving agricultural production and incomes.

Sixty five years later, the Tithe Apportionment of 1840 (extract below) also records the plots but none of them are occupied by the earlier tenants and families. All the names with the single exception of John Talbot have disappeared from the parish land holdings.

Extract from Studland Tithe Apportionment showing the holdings around Little Sea at Salterns

	Landowners	Occupiers	Name & description of lands & premises	State of Cultivation	Quantities in Statute Measure
					A	R	P
201	William HUTCHINS & Thomas BLANDFORD	George HOOD	A Plot	Pasture	5	2	5
202	William John BANKS Esquire	George DAMON	A Plot	Pasture	3	-	24
203	William John BANKS Esquire	George DAMON	A Plot	Pasture	4	2	14
204	William John BANKS Esquire	George DAMON	Fords Break or Salterns	Pasture	2	-	32
205	William John BANKS Esquire	George DAMON	Rough Piece	Pasture	-	3	20
206	William John BANKS Esquire	George DAMON	Rough Piece	Pasture	5	3	1
207	William John BANKS Esquire	Joseph HORLOCK	Howards Close & Salterns	Pasture	1	1	-
208	William John BANKS Esquire	Joseph HORLOCK	Hother Close	Pasture	2	-	-
209	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	New Close at Salterns	Pasture	1	2	1
210	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	Little Salterns	Pasture	3	1	28
211	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	Salterns Meadow	Pasture	6	-	26
212	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	The Moore	Pasture	1	-	-
213	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	The Moore	Pasture	1	-	10
214	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	The Moore	Pasture	-	3	-
215	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	Horse Close	Pasture	-	2	3
216	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	A Close adjoining Horse Close	Pasture	-	3	-
217	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	A Close adjoining Horse Close	Pasture	1	2	-
218	William John BANKS Esquire	Joseph HORLOCK	Furzey Plot at Salterns	Pasture	1	-	3
219	William John BANKS Esquire	Mary GALPIN & John GALPIN	Moore & Spere Bed at Salterns	Pasture	4	1	-
220	William John BANKS Esquire	Joseph HORLOCK	Moore & Spere Bed	Pasture	1	3	-
221	William John BANKS Esquire	Joseph HORLOCK	Browns Close & Salterns	Pasture	2	-	-
222	William John BANKS Esquire	Joseph HORLOCK	Further Browns Close	Pasture	2	-	15
223	William John BANKS Esquire	Joseph HORLOCK	Goodes Close	Pasture	2	-	-
224	William John BANKS Esquire	Joseph HORLOCK	Dukes Close	Pasture	7	2	16

Forty years later in 1880 (the First Edition of the OS Six Inch map), most of the plots are no longer identifiable.

Extract from the Studland Parish Tithe Map

Some of the field boundaries are mapped, the most important being the plots occupied by Philipp Forde in 1586 on the eastern side of Little Sea on Burnet Point.

Fieldwork preparation and initial field visit:

Use the Tithe map and Treswell's survey to identify which landholdings have a continuing presence from the Sixteenth Century to the present-day. Many of the plots at Salterne have disappeared from the maps.

Field survey:

A short field review of this part of the area from the paths around it will show that much of the area is now wooded and often waterlogged. If you were Treswell:

•  What would you record now?

•  What tree species are growing here?

•  What does that tell you about the hydrological conditions?

•  What were the hydrological conditions in Treswell's time? Why?

Analysis and synthesis of information:

What changes have taken place here and why? Clues to follow are the changes in the form of Little Sea and the dunes. This extract from Woodward's 1775 survey is helpful.

“Waste ground intermixd with, and adjoining to the Heath, mostly consisting of Sand Banks, Flats and Mud; many hundred Acres of which have been left by the Sea and became Heath Ground since the Old Survey was taken. That part of the waste call'd Little Sea , is yearly growing into Heath,”

Outcome:

Produce a series of outline maps to show the story of Salterne from Domesday to the present for a visitor to the National Trust Visitor Centre.

Sample Learning Activity 4.3

Durlston Country Park

The Durlston Country Park includes a variety of land holdings, including a distinct strip field. These common fields often disappeared just before the Tithe Maps as a result of the late eighteenth century Enclosure Acts. Part of the strip system can still be seen today.

Extract from the Tithe Map for Swanage Parish showing the field patterns in and around the Durlston Country Park

Extract from the Swanage Tithe Apportionment

This records the landowner, the occupier, the name of the plot, its use and area (in acres, rods and square poles or perches). The plot number identifies each plot on the map above.

South Field comprised 58 individual strips numbered from 321 to 379. Most were aligned roughly north to south, and about one third ran east-west.

George Burt (born 1816) was probably the most important local landowner. He, like many other young men in this area began working as a stone-mason. In 1835 he moved to London where he worked for his uncle, John Mowlem. At the time of the Tithe Apportionment he would have been 24 years old and already owned land at Durlston. In 1863, at the age of 47, he added to his lands at Durlston. The history of Durlston is summarised at http://www.durlston.co.uk/index.php?id=71

Activity

Field Preparation

Before carrying out any fieldwork in this area (at Durlston), consult with the Countryside staff (Rangers) at the Education Centre (Visitor Centre).

There are areas within the Park where botanical surveys could be carried out with minimal negative impact, while other areas are extremely fragile (the meadows in particular). This often depends on the time of year, so if you intend to carry out work of this kind, it is vital that you discuss it with the Rangers before you visit. All groups visiting the Park MUST book their visit in advance (no charge), but Countryside Staff (Rangers) need to keep track of who is around, especially if they plan to visit the centre. To BOOK call (01929) 424443 or visit www.durlston.co.uk

Field survey

In the field:

• Is it possible to trace any evidence that these field patterns still exist?
• Are the dimensions the same?
• What is the field used for today?

Analysis

Identify the elements of this landscape which are on the Tithe map and those which are absent today. You can do the same for the Ordnance Survey 1880 map.

Outcome

Draw a map which shows features which are still there

A supplementary activity might be as follows

"Many of the landholdings were quarried and some have ceased to be farmed. Does a survey of the plants now growing in these areas reflect these changes? "

Section 2:
Smuggling and maps

Section 3:
Change in place and society

Section 4:
Using the archival materials in the field

Section 5:
Landscape change - past to future