The book explores the history of floodplains and floodplain management, and how these have shaped ecology and wildlife habitats. Floodplains have been neglected by writers on landscape history, although they are the subject of numerous paintings by landscape artists like Constable and are regularly enjoyed recreationally, by walkers, ‘wild’ swimmers and others. They are also currently the focus of much discussion over public policy concerning an interconnected range of environmental issues: flooding and flood defence; the conservation of peat deposits, and their role in the sequestration of carbon; ‘re-wilding’ and the re-introduction of the beaver. Floodplains are characterised by a variety of important habitats, and provide a range of environmental services. But they are also significant cultural landscapes, preserving archaeological traces of past human activity that can be endangered by insensitive ‘re-wilding’ or ‘nature recovery’ initiatives as much as by flood defence schemes and other forms of ‘development’. An understanding of both natural and human history is thus essential not only for effective conservation management, but also for our appreciation and enjoyment of these quintessential components of the English landscape.
