A Lost Frontier Revealed by Alan Fox

Studies in Regional and Local History, Volume 7

Even today, a traveller through England is soon aware of cultural differences, some of which are clearly visible in the landscape. It is advocated by theeminent English historian Charles Phythian-Adams that England, through much of the last millennium, could be divided into regional societies which broadly coincided with groups of pre-1974 counties.

In this unusual investigation Alan Fox tests for, and establishes, the presence of an informal frontier between two of Phythian-Adams' proposed societies astride the Leicestershire-Lincolnshire border. Many studies of rural landscapes tend to focus on medieval and earlier times, but here the spotlight is on the early modern period. Local geology, rates of enclosure, population density as well as patterns of wealth, poor-relief, the local economy, land ownership and land use are all examined across the two neighbouring societies and the heathland frontier' which separated them.

Alan Fox has a PhD in English Local History at the University of Leicester where he was made an Honorary Visiting Fellow in 2003.

ISBN 978-1-902806-97-6, Apr 2010, 224pp, Paperback

“I found this book exciting and stimulating. As a test of the Phythian-Adams hypothesis it is ground-breaking in its detail... I recommend the book to anyone interested in local history, local societies and how these interact.” Evelyn Lord, The Local Historian

“Fox has produced a scholarly and detailed study of one area of the country; and one which clearly has its own wider regional characteristics. He indicates how much there is still to say about Phythian-Adams' theories of regions and borders, and at how many levels it may apply. The obvious final thought is to call for more, similarly detailed, local studies, so that we can start to assess in greater detail how unique this area of the country was. This book will be of interest to those working in local social and economic history and, like the rest of this series, is priced to be readily accessible to all.” Alysa Levene, Local Population Studies

“Alan Fox's in-depth depiction of a social-spacial fault-line between Leicestershire and west Lincolnshire provides a highly methodical, meticulously researched, well-grounded and very welcome test of Phythian-Adams's hypotheses about regional 'societies'. It is based on rigorous and exhaustive parish-by-parish analyses, including a phenomenal family reconstitution of fourteen parishes in this border area.” H.R. French, Agricultural History Review

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