Common Land in Britain. A History from the Middle Ages to the Present Day

Abstract

Schaich and colleagues at Freiburg establishes the importance of holes in old beech, spruce and Scots pines as nesting sites and places ‘for hiding during the night’ for the Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius). Larger holes are used by the Stock Dove (Columba oenas) (p. 180). The value of the category ‘ancient woodland’ in Turkey is effectively examined in a chapter by Simay Kirca and colleagues who use as case studies ancient woods of box (Buxus sempervirens) and yew (Taxus baccata). Further valuable chapters explore the biodiversity of oaks in Turkey, and the cultural values of ancient black pines (Pinus nigra) on Sandras Mountain. Melvyn Jones explores the many different ways in which coppice woods were protected from grazing and theft, by walls, woodbanks and woodwards in South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire, while Christine Handley and Ian Rotherham provide a detailed history of the links between the tanning industry and woodland management. Elisabeth Johann’s wide-ranging chapter on the diversity of ancient woodlands in Austria includes assessments of a remarkable nineteenth-century drawing of branch litter harvesting (p. 220) and a 1518 document concerning the designation of Rannachwald as a protection forest to reduce the risk of avalanches. Frans Vera in a characteristically thorough chapter draws out the value of wood pasture for food, wood and biodiversity. He provides detailed assessments of the feeding strategies of wild and domesticated ungulates, and the significance of the different ways in which blackthorn and hawthorn spread in pastures. He also uses the work of J. Bossema and others to explore the complex interactions between jays, wood mice and acorns and the implications for the spread of oak trees and ‘the phenomenon of oaks seeming to grow entwined with hawthorn in wood-pasture’ (p. 247). Vera provides a thoughtful critique of the use of the term ‘natural regeneration’ in forestry (p. 250) and argues that ‘in the classic forestry literature wood-pastures are considered to be degraded closed-canopy forests... instead of a well-functioning ecosystem driven by large ungulates’ (p. 258). This important book makes an original contribution to debates about tree and woodland conservation. There is something here for everyone interested in landscape and woodland history and conservation. The book is very attractively produced, and the many colour illustrations, maps and photographs help the authors to strengthen their arguments. The editors and authors are to be congratulated on producing such a valuable and significant text. Indeed, the value of the book is greater than the sum of its parts and it provides a splendid illustration of the ability of edited books to characterise a research area and stimulate further research.