Adverse Weather Conditions in Medieval Britain: an Archaeological Assessment of the Impact of Meteorological Hazards
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Durham E-Theses Adverse Weather Conditions in Medieval Britain: An Archaeological Assessment of the Impact of Meteorological Hazards BROWN, PETER,JAMES How to cite: BROWN, PETER,JAMES (2015) Adverse Weather Conditions in Medieval Britain: An Archaeological Assessment of the Impact of Meteorological Hazards , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11215/ Use policy This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY) Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Adverse Weather Conditions in Medieval Britain: An Archaeological Assessment of the Impact of Meteorological Hazards Peter James Brown Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree: MA by Research Durham University, Department of Archaeology 08/07/2015 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author's prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Adverse Weather Conditions in Medieval Britain Abstract The history of the medieval period in Britain is punctuated by catastrophic events, including wars, political unrest, disease, famine and ‘natural’ disasters. While archaeological evidence for warfare, epidemics and diet have seen extensive research within the sub-disciplines of battlefield/conflict archaeology and paleopathology, ‘natural’ disasters have not sparked comparable investigations. This research aims, to a limited extent, to redress this. As with other calamities, disasters caused by natural hazards have, over the longue-durée, influenced humanity’s regional social, economic and cultural development. This research therefore focuses on the multitude of impacts resulting from those hazards dependent on weather systems throughout the later British Middle Ages, defined here as AD c. 1000-c. 1550, analysing the different ways in which medieval populations responded to meteorological hazards through both physical and spiritual means using both archaeological and historical sources. The extent to which British medieval society adapted to the risk of natural hazards is also assessed. 1 Adverse Weather Conditions in Medieval Britain Contents Introduction 5 Literature Review 6 Weather in medieval Britain 7 Methodology 10 Wind-Blown Sand 12 Evidence for the Hazard in the Middle Ages 14 Medieval Mitigation Strategies 23 Protection from wind-blown sand in the Middle Ages 24 Adapting to the Hazard 26 Summary 29 Flooding 30 Floods in Medieval Thought 33 Archaeological and Historical Evidence 34 Mitigation 42 Protection 44 Adaptation 50 Summary 52 Lightning 54 Lightning in the Middle Ages 55 Mitigation 64 Prevention 65 Adaptation 66 Summary 66 Windstorms 67 Medieval Theology and Literature 68 Archaeological and Historical Evidence 68 Mitigation 78 Protection 79 Adaptation 81 Summary 81 Discussion 83 Impact 83 Responses 90 Adaptation 96 Characterizing Medieval Responses 97 Conclusions 99 Appendix 1 List of Medieval Sites affected by Wind-Blown Sand 101 Appendix 2 List of Medieval Lightning Induced Fires 102 Appendix 3 List of Medieval Windstorm Events 105 Bibliography 106 2 Adverse Weather Conditions in Medieval Britain List of Illustrations Figure 1 - Sand dune environments around Britain's coasts 13 Figure 2 - Map of locations affected by wind-blown sand 15 Figure 3 - Remains of the chapel on St Ninian‟s Isle, Shetland 16 Figure 4 - The modern coastline at Meols 19 Figure 5 - Timeline of wind-blown sand inundations at sites discussed in the text 22 Figure 6 - Map of the Ogmore River at Merthyr Mawr, Bridgend 25 Figure 7 - Map of unsustainable land use strategies practiced at sites discussed in the text 27 Figure 8 - A depiction from Queen Mary‟s Psalter of a rabbit warren 28 Figure 9 - Map of Britain with the main rivers, towns and wetlands discussed marked 31 Figure 10 - Detail from the depiction of the Flood in the Holkham Bible Picture Book 34 Figure 11 - Palaeochannels on the River Trent near Long Eaton, Derbs. 38 Figure 12 - Horseshoe Corner on the Thames near Dagenham 40 Figure 13 - Site of Ankerwycke Priory 43 Figure 14 - Map of Byland Abbey, N. Yorks. 44 Figure 15 - An area along the River Ouse near Riccall, N. Yorks. 45 Figure 16 - A break in the dyke against the River Ouse near Riccall, N. Yorks. 47 Figure 17 - An area along the River Ure southeast of Ripon, N. Yorks. 48 Figure 18 - A flowchart diagram summarising principles relating to floods 53 Figure 19 - Historical lightning strikes from the medieval period 56 Figure 20 - Three views of old St Paul‟s 61 Figure 21 - Schematic diagram of the fire at Glasgow Cathedral 62 Figure 22 - The layout of the east end at St Andrews Cathedral 64 Figure 23 - British medieval windstorm events with archaeological evidence 69 Figure 24 - Map of structural damage recorded occurring in the 1210 storm event 72 Figure 25 - Phases of damage and repair visible on the west front of Chichester Cathedral 73 Figure 26 - Map of structural damage recorded occurring in the 1222 storm event 74 Figure 27 - The internal scaffolding at Salisbury Cathedral 75 Figure 28 - An extract of the medieval graffiti from St Mary‟s Church, Ashwell, Herts. 77 Figure 29 - Map of documentary and structural evidence of the 1362 storm event 77 Figure 30 - An olive branch tied to a balcony balustrade in Aragon, Spain 81 Figure 31 - Population per Sq Mile in England in 1086 84 Figure 32 - Population per Sq Mile in England in 1290 85 Figure 33 - Recorded population per sq mile in England in 1540 86 Figure 34 - British medieval meteorological hazards with archaeological evidence 89 Figure 35 - A 15th Century Pendant from Gleaston, Cumbria 95 Figure 36 - The different ways pre-industrial and industrial societies respond to natural hazards 98 3 Adverse Weather Conditions in Medieval Britain List of Abbreviations BBC – British Broadcasting Corporation DMV – Deserted Medieval Village LIA - Little Ice Age NCDC – National Climatic Data Center OS - Ordnance Survey OSL - Optically Stimulated Luminescence RCHME – Royal Commission on Historic Monuments England RCAHMW - Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales WEF - World Economic Forum Acknowledgments Many people have helped me this piece of research together, both directly and indirectly. Greatest gratitude is due to my two supervisors, David Petley and Chris Gerrard whose continued support, guidance and participation in discussions over hearty breakfasts made this project possible. A number of researchers working on connected sites and projects went out of their way to answer my questions including Stephen Driscoll, David Griffiths, Karen Milek, Richard Oram, Judy Sims, and Stephen Rippon. In addition, Jamie Davies and Iwan Hughes helped me locate Welsh language material, Paolo Forlin advised me on how to produce the maps and Alejandra Gutiérrez offered a great deal of assistance, sending many useful articles and books in my direction. Lastly, I would like to thank my two examiners, David Petts and David Griffiths, for their comments and suggestions which have greatly improved the text. 4 Adverse Weather Conditions in Medieval Britain 1.0 Introduction Meteorological hazards come in many different forms, from widespread flooding associated with high rainfall or rapid snowmelt to hurricane force winds and thunderstorms. These events themselves, however, can only become „disasters‟ when they affect human populations. A storm in the open ocean in which no ships are affected can only be considered a natural hazard but not a disaster. These various hazards occur widely and frequently around the world and with global population now at a historically unprecedented level, they now more than ever interact with people and property. For example, in the US alone, 2013 was witness to nine meteorological hazards which each caused losses exceeding $1 billion in damage (NCDC 2014). As a result of the widespread and costly damage they have the potential to unleash, meteorological hazards are now regarded among both the most frequently occurring and the most damaging risks to modern society (WEF 2014: 16). When human populations are confronted by hazardous anomalies within the natural world such as floods or storms, it is their understanding of the factors influencing change and their belief in human ability to mitigate, protect and adapt to new conditions that shape the strategies they adopt in the face of disaster. For example, Spanish folklore, probably with medieval origins, relating to storms recorded in the early 20th century holds that stones collected from riverbeds or irrigation channels on Holy Saturday can be brought out in the future and thrown in the direction of an impending storm in order to disperse the storm and protect the village (Brenan 1963: 130). While this practice, from a scientific perspective, is absolutely useless in preventing the approach of a storm, without knowledge of the true factors influencing storm propagation and movement, it is easy to understand how a method such as this could seep into local tradition, perhaps after it had once been employed successfully against a looming storm. This cultural component with which individuals and groups approach environmental hazards, which varies drastically both chronologically and geographically, strongly influences a society‟s resilience - its ability to successfully survive and recover from the destruction wrought by natural hazards. In