Interactions between human industry and woodland ecology in the South Pennines

Abstract

This research project used many disciplines to examine the impacts of industrialisation on the wooded landscape of the South Pennines. The woodlands of this upland region are characterised by their small size and steep topography. Nevertheless, they exhibit a rich archaeology of management from the medieval period onwards. Field survey of case study sites was combined with charcoal analysis from excavated burning platforms, palynology of soil cores, tree ring analysis and ecological survey. This was set within a historical context, particularly focusing on the regional industries of iron, leather and textiles, in order to understand the economic motivations for changes in woodland management. The woodlands examined showed a diverse range of histories. Some had a strong correlation with models of changing woodland management culture of neighbouring regions, particularly the evolution of systematic oak-dominated coppice in response to industrial demands. Woodland management in the South Pennines was more sensitive to industries which created dispersed demand from many actors than to bulk demand from centralised industries and responded to the changing economics of the fossil fuel era. The dominance of freehold tenure also contributed to many woodlands being managed in an unsystematic manner and the survival of private wood pasture alongside timber harvesting.