Chester Society for Landscape History
Upper storeys of Chester’s iconic Rows (Photograph: Vanessa Greatorex)
Forthcoming Events
Saturday 31 January 2026, 2pm
VISITORS WELCOME
Lecture: Recent Discoveries at Bailey Hill, Mold’s Motte and Bailey Castle
Speaker: Sophie Fish, Flintshire’s Museums, Heritage and Culture Manager
Venue: St Columba’s Church Hall, Plas Newton Lane, Chester, CH2 1SA
Admission: Members free, Visitors £4,
Student Visitors £2
NB: Free car park; for directions see:
https://sscolumbaandtheresa.co.uk/about/st-columbas-church/directions-and-location/
Saturday 28 February 2026
1.45pm: AGM
2pm: Lecture (VISITORS WELCOME): RAF Sealand: A History
Speaker: Jennifer Watson, Church Warden of St Bartholomew’s Church, Sealand
Venue: St Columba’s Church Hall, Plas Newton Lane, Chester, CH2 1SA
Admission: Members free, Visitors £4,
Student Visitors £2
What is Landscape History?
Landscape History is the study of how people have altered the landscape through time.
It seeks to explain the historical significance of the buildings, earthworks, flora and other physical features which are our common heritage. It embraces aspects of history, archaeology, architecture, geography, geology, botany and other disciplines.
“The English landscape itself, to those who know how to read it aright, is the richest historical record we possess.” – W.G. Hoskins, The Making of the English Landscape (1955).
Picks of the Week
Here are some links to online landscape history resources recently recommended by our Information Officer:
The history and ecology of dry stone walls
Excellent YouTube video in which famer and historian Tom Lord and conservationist Bill Sutherland explain why dry stone walls rather than hedges are used to divide fields in upland areas, what the different styles of such walls reveal about landscape usage over time, and how they foster ecological diversity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUg2RdIbcao
Britain’s national parks
Slide show with photos and brief descriptions of national parks in Northumberland, the Lake District, the North York Moors, the Yorkshire Dales, the Peak District, the Norfolk Broads, the South Downs, Exmoor, Dartmoor, the New Forest, Snowdonia, Brecon Beacons, the Pembrokeshire Coast, Loch Lomond, the Trossachs, and the Cairngorms.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/tripideas/do-you-agree-that-these-are-the-uks-most-beautiful-national-parks/ss-AA1NTkZ4
Click on the blue text at the end of this sentence for links to previously recommended Online Resources or for links to specific topics, including: Directories/Databases/Aerial Photographs, Geology, Ecosystems, Prehistory, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, Medieval, Tudor and Stuart, Castles, Churches/Cathedrals/Shrines, Industrial, Cheshire, Wales, Other Locations.