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Landscape and townscape from AD 1500 • 277 • Rose Theatre and part of Shakespeare’s Globe has added a major new dimension to our understanding of Elizabethan theatre. The debate over the preservation of the remains of the Rose Theatre generated a lot of media attention and helped to give urban archaeology, especially post medieval archaeology, a higher public profile (Orrell and Gurr 1989). At a later date, coaching inns, with their high arches and courtyards, were another addition to the urban scene. The ‘Great Rebuilding’ in the English countryside had its urban counterpart. The evolution of urban housing styles closely paralleled those in the countryside, with modifications to allow for more cramped sites. In many English county and market towns, the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw a move from timber frame with wattle and daub towards the use of brick and stone. This reflected growing prosperity but also in some cases rebuilding in more fireproof materials after major conflagrations. In Scotland, population pressure and shortage of space on a physically cramped site led to the replacement of timber-frame houses by stone tenements in Edinburgh during the early seventeenth century. Tenement housing was found in Glasgow and Dundee too at this period, while flatted housing was also a feature of St Andrews and other small Fife burghs where pressure on space was much less. It may reflect a different housing tradition with an acceptance, in a generally poorer country, of lower housing standards. As with the post medieval countryside, far more is known about the housing conditions of wealthier urban dwellers than those in the poorest social groups. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, towns had distinctive social areas, with wealthier residents living in central locations and much of the poorer population living in peripheral areas. At a smaller scale, occupational groups were often located in distinct clusters. Urban housing continued in an essentially vernacular style well into the seventeenth century, with buildings designed individually rather than as part of larger schemes (Crossley 1990). Influences in urban planning began to reach England in the early seventeenth century. Inigo Jones’ Covent Garden, a square with houses on three sides designed with uniform facades, the first true urban residential square in Britain, was built from 1630, the first of many such developments in London. New residential developments in the capital began to spread westwards in the later seventeenth century: the Earl of Southampton laid out Bloomsbury Square in 1661 and many others followed. Most of the late seventeenth- and early eighteenthcentury squares in London were built piecemeal, although general building guidelines were imposed. Progress continued through the eighteenth century, with Bedford Square, c.1775, being the best preserved of London’s Georgian squares. Under the patronage of George IV, as regent and king, John Nash designed or refashioned parks, palaces, squares and streets into a brilliant sequence from Regent’s Park to Buckingham Palace. Regent’s Park itself was laid out as a garden suburb, dotted with isolated villas. Similar developments spread to provincial towns as landowners began to appreciate the profitability of releasing land for speculative building. If work transformed much of the British landscape in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, leisure also made its contribution. Spa centres such as Bath and Tunbridge Wells began to develop from the later seventeenth century when continental ideas concerning the efficacy of taking spring water as a cure became popular, creating new centres and adding a new function to existing ones. In the early eighteenth century, Bath in particular became fashionable. The work of John Wood, father and son, from 1727 turned it into one of the finest towns in Europe. In Queen Square, started in 1729, the houses were treated on a monumental scale, with whole sides designed with palace facades. Royal Circus, begun in 1754, was the first circular space in British town planning. Royal Crescent, from c.1770, made striking use of a hillside site (Figure 15.8). In the later eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, dozens of squares and crescents were built in other British towns, though rarely on the scale of Bath. The New Town of Edinburgh, begun in the 1750s, was an exception. The fragmented pattern of freeholds around many towns sometimes defeated grandiose schemes. The crescent at

• 278 • Ian Whyte Buxton, Derbyshire, demonstrates the effect of new urban design on a smaller centre. Sea bathing also had its attractions: Scarborough developed from the early eighteenth century, and royal patronage encouraged the development of Brighton and Weymouth in the late eighteenth century, by which time Blackpool was just beginning to achieve local prominence as a summer resort. The development of industrial towns in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was often, by contrast, unplanned and piecemeal. In areas like south Wales and Figure 15.8 Royal Crescent, Bath: classical urban symmetry. Lancashire, new towns mushroomed from nothing within a few Source: I. Whyte years. Factory owners still often lived close to their workers but only a few laid out planned housing developments for them, like Sir John Morris, the copper magnate, at Morriston near Swansea from c.1793. CONCLUSION Despite limitations of space, it is hoped that this chapter has been able to convey the sheer range and vitality of the changes that occurred in landscapes and townscapes during a period that has often been written off as a mere appendage to the concerns of ‘proper’ archaeology. In future, the application of archaeological approaches and techniques to the remains of the early modern period and even the industrial era seems more assured. Increasing interest in Britain’s industrial past, witnessed by heritage attractions and industrial museums, should help to place archaeology within this period on a firmer footing, a trend already evident in the work of many archaeological research and rescue units. Key texts Crossley, D., 1990. Post medieval archaeology in Britain. Leicester: Leicester University Press. Dodgshon, R.A. and Butlin, R.A. (eds) 1990. An historical geography of England and Wales. London: Academic Press. 2 edn. Hoskins, W.G., 1955. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder. Rackham, O., 1986. The History of the countryside. London: Dent. Whyte, I.D. and Whyte, K.A., 1991. Scotland’s changing landscape 1500–1800. London: Routledge. Bibliography Atkin, M. and Howes, R., 1993. ‘The use of archaeology and documentary sources in identifying the Civil War defences of Gloucester’, Post Medieval Archaeology 27, 15–42. Ayres, B., 1991. ‘Post medieval archaeology in Norwich: a review’, Post Medieval Archaeology 25, 1–24. Bil, A., 1990. The shieling 1600–1840. The case of the central Scottish Highlands. Edinburgh: John Donald. Bowler, D. and Catchart, R., 1994. ‘Tay Street, Perth: the excavation of an early harbour site’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 124, 467–489.

• 278 • Ian Whyte<br />

Buxton, Derbyshire, demonstrates<br />

the effect <strong>of</strong> new urban design on a<br />

smaller centre. Sea bathing also had<br />

its attractions: S<strong>ca</strong>rborough<br />

developed <strong>from</strong> the early eighteenth<br />

century, and royal patronage<br />

encouraged the development <strong>of</strong><br />

Brighton and Weymouth in the late<br />

eighteenth century, by which time<br />

Blackpool was just beginning to<br />

achieve lo<strong>ca</strong>l prominence as a<br />

summer resort.<br />

<strong>The</strong> development <strong>of</strong> industrial<br />

towns in the late eighteenth and early<br />

nineteenth centuries was <strong>of</strong>ten, by<br />

contrast, unplanned and piecemeal.<br />

In areas like south Wales and<br />

Figure 15.8 Royal Crescent, Bath: classi<strong>ca</strong>l urban symmetry.<br />

Lan<strong>ca</strong>shire, new towns mushroomed<br />

<strong>from</strong> nothing within a few<br />

Source: I. Whyte<br />

years. Factory owners still <strong>of</strong>ten lived close to their workers but only a few laid out planned<br />

housing developments for them, like Sir John Morris, the copper magnate, at Morriston near<br />

Swansea <strong>from</strong> c.1793.<br />

CONCLUSION<br />

Despite limitations <strong>of</strong> space, it is hoped that this chapter has been able to convey the sheer range<br />

and vitality <strong>of</strong> the changes that occurred in lands<strong>ca</strong>pes and towns<strong>ca</strong>pes during a period that has<br />

<strong>of</strong>ten been written <strong>of</strong>f as a mere appendage to the concerns <strong>of</strong> ‘proper’ archaeology. In future,<br />

the appli<strong>ca</strong>tion <strong>of</strong> archaeologi<strong>ca</strong>l approaches and techniques to the remains <strong>of</strong> the early modern<br />

period and even the industrial era seems more assured. Increasing interest in <strong>Britain</strong>’s industrial<br />

past, witnessed by heritage attractions and industrial museums, should help to place archaeology<br />

within this period on a firmer footing, a trend already evident in the work <strong>of</strong> many archaeologi<strong>ca</strong>l<br />

research and rescue units.<br />

Key texts<br />

Crossley, D., 1990. Post medieval archaeology in <strong>Britain</strong>. Leicester: Leicester University Press.<br />

Dodgshon, R.A. and Butlin, R.A. (eds) 1990. <strong>An</strong> histori<strong>ca</strong>l geography <strong>of</strong> England and Wales. London: A<strong>ca</strong>demic<br />

Press. 2 edn.<br />

Hoskins, W.G., 1955. <strong>The</strong> making <strong>of</strong> the English lands<strong>ca</strong>pe. London: Hodder.<br />

Rackham, O., 1986. <strong>The</strong> History <strong>of</strong> the countryside. London: Dent.<br />

Whyte, I.D. and Whyte, K.A., 1991. Scotland’s changing lands<strong>ca</strong>pe 1500–1800. London: Routledge.<br />

Bibliography<br />

Atkin, M. and Howes, R., 1993. ‘<strong>The</strong> use <strong>of</strong> archaeology and documentary sources in identifying the Civil<br />

War defences <strong>of</strong> Gloucester’, Post Medieval <strong>Archaeology</strong> 27, 15–42.<br />

Ayres, B., 1991. ‘Post medieval archaeology in Norwich: a review’, Post Medieval <strong>Archaeology</strong> 25, 1–24.<br />

Bil, A., 1990. <strong>The</strong> shieling 1600–1840. <strong>The</strong> <strong>ca</strong>se <strong>of</strong> the central Scottish Highlands. Edinburgh: John Donald.<br />

Bowler, D. and Catchart, R., 1994. ‘Tay Street, Perth: the ex<strong>ca</strong>vation <strong>of</strong> an early harbour site’, Proceedings <strong>of</strong><br />

the Society <strong>of</strong> <strong>An</strong>tiquaries <strong>of</strong> Scotland 124, 467–489.

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