Book Review
PETER MURPHY. The English coast: a history and a prospect. xiv+282 pages, 15 illustrations, 2 tables. 2009. London & New York: Continuum; 978-1-84725-143-5 hardback £60.
Review by Friederike Bungenstock
Niedersächsisches Institut für historische Küstenforschung, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
(Email: bungenstock@nihk.de)
In The English coast Peter Murphy assembles an extensive documentation dealing not only with the formation and evolution of the coast of England over the past 700 000 years but also with the interaction between people and their coastal environment. He concludes with a highly topical critical discussion of current and future climatic and economic processes and points, amongst other issues, to the consequences such processes have on the preservation of sites and monuments.
The English coast is written so engagingly that it reads more like a novel. The combination of interactions is successfully presented: on the one hand Murphy describes the geological and climatic changes the English coast underwent, and on the other he presents the forms of settlement that depend on the coast, including their consequences in terms of trade, industry or immigration and even in terms of strategic significance during military conflict or in present-day debates and programmes addressing coastal protection. The author is conscious of the breadth of his approach and does not claim to have treated all facets equally. He does however manage to make the basics of each subject area comprehensible, thus making his book a well-grounded and instructive experience for his readers, be they general readers, non-specialists or specialists. It is a pleasure to pick up this book. The sturdy binding and handy format (compared to the large format of most other specialist publications) also make it an ideal travelling companion.
The book contains 214 pages of text in six chapters, complemented by an appendix. Each chapter starts with a clear overview of what is to follow. Terminology and background to the approaches of different subject areas are explained where necessary and can be pursued in the appendix. The latter provides basic information on research directions and approaches to help clarify concepts as well as inform on the state of knowledge within specific disciplines — sedimentology, palaeoecology, dating techniques, Quaternary research, climate and sea level research — and in particular their relevance to archaeology.
The illustrations are unfortunately disappointing. Some photographs are so poorly reproduced that they only hint at what they should be illustrating. Ultimately this is a minor criticism as it is overwhelmingly the text that matters and persuades.
Chapter 1, 'The deep past', describes the geological and palaeogeographical evolution of the coast of England from the late Quaternary and its settlement by people from c. 700 000 BP onwards. Murphy first presents basic concepts of Quaternary research before focusing more specifically on the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic, and then the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, incorporating the findings of the earth sciences as well as the evidence for humans during these phases, including, as far as genetics and assemblages allow, their abilities and particularities.
Chapter 2 ('Lost and new made lands'), concentrates on coastal change over the last 6000 years for several locations in England emphasising the fact that landscape changes along the coast do not happen synchronously and that adjacent coasts can develop quite differently. The interaction between people and landscape is illustrated by such events as abandonment, destruction and resettlement of areas settled by humans, exploitation of the coastal wetlands for seaweed, fish, grazing and farming as well as the reclamation of land — an economic assed by 1750 — from the Roman period to modern times.
The creation of economic assets has long played a major role in the history of humans, and this is reflected in Chapter 3, the longest chapter. Its theme is the economic exploitation of the English coast, which Murphy introduces with a comprehensive description of exchange goods and trade contacts in prehistoric and historic times. Further themes explored in this chapter are boat-building, an important industrial component of coastal regions, as well as export, particularly of wool and textiles. The export and import of cereals leads the author to consider the first effects of globalisation in the nineteenth century, which saw crop failure in Britain and the massive increase in cereals arriving from the USA and Canada.
The exploitation of metals, coal and other minerals and their trade is also discussed in this chapter, as is the trade in luxury goods: wine and spices from the sixth century AD, tea, coffee and ivory later. Fishing, fishing ports and trade ports — and taxation — further permeate the history of the coastal regions. The art of navigation and the related search for new and more secure seaways which underpin the economic importance of trade networks is the last theme explored in this chapter.
Chapter 4 is entitled 'England defended': as the sea provides routes for invaders, raiders, pirates, smugglers and illegal immigrants, the coasts of England have often been attacked and sometimes overrun. To name a few examples, the author refers to Iron Age coastal forts, medieval castles and Cold War establishments, commenting on their historical context and describing these remnants of England's martial past.
Chapter 5 ('Bodies and souls') comes to grips with people as individuals and as members of communities. Here the author examines the influence of the physical environment, spirituality and the development of society, including a discussion of immigration from the Mesolithic to the present day and its impact on the society of the time. Pilgrimage, transportation of convicts, the slave trade, daily life and tourism through the ages are also considered, as are their political catalysts, religion and spirituality as well as the traces all these elements have left in the archaeological record. Murphy deems the legends and myths surviving in the collective memory as no less important in this respect. Once again this chapter makes clear how current political debate can, and should, take account of the archaeological evidence. That such discussions are not only timely but urgent is the message conveyed in the final chapter (6).
Chapter 6, 'What next?', contains topical arguments concerning the future of the coast in matters pertaining to climate change, energy strategies, environmental and coastal protection, risk management and the dredging of harbours and shipping channels, to name but a few issues. These factors do not just have an impact on the coast itself but, as the author shows, they affect the preservation of archaeological monuments and the policies, including European directives, devised for protecting them. Murphy does not shrink from tackling politically divisive questions; he does not confine himself to factual information but provides with his book the basis for a highly topical debate which addresses not only the real menace archaeological sites and monuments face but more generally the strategies for coastal management.
(Translated from the German by Reviews Editor)
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