The Anglo-Saxon Fenland

The extensive wetlands of the region widely known as Fenland, in eastern England, have seen considerable archaeological and historical research, although we know relatively little about the period between AD410 and 1066 due to the scarcity of source material. In The Anglo-Saxon Fenland Susan Oosthuizen set out to address this issue by looking at a range of evidence both from this period, and through back-projecting sources from the later medieval/post-medieval periods. Chapter 1 – “The Wide Wilderness” – introduces the Fenland landscape, while Chapter 2 – “One of the loneliest pieces of country” – explores what we know about Fenland from Domesday. Through a re-analysis of the Domesday data, Oosthuizen shows that in contrast to the traditional view – that Fenland was largely a wetland wilderness – there were some areas that were quite densely settled. More problematic is the hypothesis that there was continuity from the Roman through to the medieval period, and the statement that there is little evidence of post-Roman abandonment of the wetland fens (p. 26) is simply not true. Large numbers of archaeological surveys have revealed huge areas of Romano-British landscape that were abandoned, which contrasts with a handful of settlements that have been dated to the fifth and sixth centuries (as opposed to the seventh century onwards when the wetlands were recolonised). Chapter 3 “Cultural Identity in the Early Medieval Fenland” – is an important chapter in presenting a hypothesis that the occupants of Fenland in this period were largely descended from the native British population as opposed to immigrant Anglo-Saxons. A crucial line of enquiry – the evidence from DNA – is actually to be found in the Prologue, where Oosthuizen presents an excellent critique of why we should be cautious about using the results of DNA studies of modern populations. What is confusing about this chapter, however, is the terminology: “early medieval” and “Anglo-Saxon” are used seemingly interchangeable, which in a chapter on “identity” is unfortunate! Chapter 4 – “Brigands and Bandits?” – explores which communities described in the Tribal Hidage may have occupied parts of Fenland, while Chapter 5 discusses the Isle of Ely and the central peat lands and presents a convincing reconstruction of the Ely regio. The final chapter – “Rich hay and commons” – weaves together scraps of evidence from the early medieval period with a wealth of material from the later medieval/post medieval periods, to show the importance of common grazing to rural communities. The book is well written and well-illustrated as is customary with the excellent Windgather series.