Manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the Yorkshire Wolds before 1600

The thesis examines conceptions and experiences of space in later medieval and early modern England with specific reference to the Yorkshire Wolds, a region of low chalk hills in the historic East Riding of Yorkshire. Particular attention is paid to the spatial and symbolic relationships between man...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: McDonagh, Briony A.K.
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2007
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11632/
_version_ 1848791321961037824
author McDonagh, Briony A.K.
author_facet McDonagh, Briony A.K.
author_sort McDonagh, Briony A.K.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The thesis examines conceptions and experiences of space in later medieval and early modern England with specific reference to the Yorkshire Wolds, a region of low chalk hills in the historic East Riding of Yorkshire. Particular attention is paid to the spatial and symbolic relationships between manor houses, parish churches and rural settlements in the period before c. 1600, and to the ways power was articulated through such a landscape. Chapter IV examines evidence for early church foundations and argues that the geographical relationships between manor houses and churches evident in the Wolds and elsewhere in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were not simply an outcome of earlier pre-Conquest practices. The remainder of the thesis explores the continued meaning of these relationships in the later medieval and early modern period, arguing that while landowners might constitute or maintain their power through the architecture of their houses or patronage of nearby churches, these practices were at least partially dependent on the geographical relationships between manor, churches and settlements. Chapters V and VI examine the use and meaning of manorial and church space in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in greater detail. Both chapters are attentive to the ways that manorial lords might articulate their gentility, status and power, as well as their piety, through these spaces. Conversely, the thesis also investigates evidence for public use of manorial and church space, and consideration is given to the ways manor houses and churches might be constituted and experienced as public, private, secular or religious spaces. The thesis also examines evidence for the meaning of private space and property within the wider landscape and in doing so, investigates a variety of sites at which individuals and groups other than the gentry might assert identity, status and power. The thesis concludes by suggesting that buildings and landscapes not only reflected the status, wealth and lineage of those who occupied and used them, but also provided sites through which social status and political power could be actively negotiated and maintained.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T18:26:40Z
format Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
id nottingham-11632
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T18:26:40Z
publishDate 2007
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-116322025-02-28T11:14:42Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11632/ Manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the Yorkshire Wolds before 1600 McDonagh, Briony A.K. The thesis examines conceptions and experiences of space in later medieval and early modern England with specific reference to the Yorkshire Wolds, a region of low chalk hills in the historic East Riding of Yorkshire. Particular attention is paid to the spatial and symbolic relationships between manor houses, parish churches and rural settlements in the period before c. 1600, and to the ways power was articulated through such a landscape. Chapter IV examines evidence for early church foundations and argues that the geographical relationships between manor houses and churches evident in the Wolds and elsewhere in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were not simply an outcome of earlier pre-Conquest practices. The remainder of the thesis explores the continued meaning of these relationships in the later medieval and early modern period, arguing that while landowners might constitute or maintain their power through the architecture of their houses or patronage of nearby churches, these practices were at least partially dependent on the geographical relationships between manor, churches and settlements. Chapters V and VI examine the use and meaning of manorial and church space in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in greater detail. Both chapters are attentive to the ways that manorial lords might articulate their gentility, status and power, as well as their piety, through these spaces. Conversely, the thesis also investigates evidence for public use of manorial and church space, and consideration is given to the ways manor houses and churches might be constituted and experienced as public, private, secular or religious spaces. The thesis also examines evidence for the meaning of private space and property within the wider landscape and in doing so, investigates a variety of sites at which individuals and groups other than the gentry might assert identity, status and power. The thesis concludes by suggesting that buildings and landscapes not only reflected the status, wealth and lineage of those who occupied and used them, but also provided sites through which social status and political power could be actively negotiated and maintained. 2007 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11632/1/439852.pdf McDonagh, Briony A.K. (2007) Manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the Yorkshire Wolds before 1600. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. Historical geography Wolds
spellingShingle Historical geography
Wolds
McDonagh, Briony A.K.
Manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the Yorkshire Wolds before 1600
title Manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the Yorkshire Wolds before 1600
title_full Manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the Yorkshire Wolds before 1600
title_fullStr Manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the Yorkshire Wolds before 1600
title_full_unstemmed Manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the Yorkshire Wolds before 1600
title_short Manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the Yorkshire Wolds before 1600
title_sort manor houses, churches and settlements: historical geographies of the yorkshire wolds before 1600
topic Historical geography
Wolds
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11632/