Trees played a particularly important part in the rural economy of Anglo-Saxon England, both for wood and timber and as a wood-pasture resource, with hunting gaining a growing cultural role. But they are also powerful icons in many pre-Christian religions, with a degree of tree symbolism found in Christian scripture too.
This wide-ranging book, Trees in Anglo-Saxon England, explores both the "real", historical and archaeological evidence of trees and woodland, and as they are depicted in Anglo-Saxon literature and legend. Place-name and charter references cast light upon the distribution of particular tree species (mapped here in detail for the first time) and also reflect upon regional character in a period that was fundamental for the evolution of the present landscape.
Trees in Anglo-Saxon England is an excellent resource for understanding the history of the British landscape.
Della Hooke is an Honorary Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Research in Arts and Social Sciences, University of Birmingham (FSA: Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London).