Deserted Villages Revisited

Overview

Assembling leading experts on the subject, this account explores the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of thousands of villages and smaller settlements in England and Wales between 1340 and 1750. By revisiting the deserted villages, this breakthrough study addresses questions that have plagued archaeologists, geographers, and historians since the 1940s—including why they were deserted, why some villages survived while others were abandoned, and who was responsible for their desertion—offering a series of exciting insights into the fate of these fascinating sites.

Reviews

"This is a stimulating book, which sparkles with Dyer's selection of telling examples and his eye for nuance."  —Economic History Review on An Age of Transition

Author Biography

Christopher Dyer is the Professor of Regional and Local History and the head of the Center for English Local History at the University of Leicester. Richard Jones is a lecturer in landscape history at the University of Leicester. He previously worked for the Sussex Archaeological Society and for the University of Cardiff.