Marshlands and Other Wetlands

This chapter considers the range of wetland environments that existed in Anglo-Saxon England, and the uses to which they were put, using archaeological, documentary and place-name evidence. It demonstrates that the drainage schemes and canals of Roman Britain mostly fell into disrepair, and that as sea levels rose coastal wetlands once again became saltmarsh environments (over a time-scale that would have been perceptible to local communities). These landscapes were, however, rich in natural resources and in the Middle Saxon period the growing intensity of wetland management is reflected in the digging of drainage systems, changing the relationship between people and their environment. In the Late Saxon period this culminated in the reclamation of some, but not all, wetlands, a transformation of the landscape that would have profoundly affected the daily lives of the communities living there as new patterns of land-use – and therefore annual cycles of living and working – were introduced. Those intertidal marshes that remained were economically important as a source of salt production and rich grazing land.