Main content

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby teases out a North Yorkshire field’s place in changing times. Beyond the pastoral idyll, she sees something deeper going on in society and the world.

Archaeologist Rose Ferraby travels to a field close to Fountains Abbey, in North Yorkshire. Fields seem so completely natural to our landscapes that they’ve almost come to represent an idea of tradition – our green and pleasant land; but the patterns of enclosure that thread our landscapes reflect shifts in power and society over time, and the changing ecological impacts of land use. Looking beyond the pastoral idyll, Rose sees how the different parts of field systems - boundaries, hedgerows, dung deposits and the "organic archives" of soil - offer insights into the relationships between people and the natural world.

Produced by Mark Smalley
A Reduced Listening production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3

Available now

14 minutes

Last on

Thu 13 Jul 2023 22:45

Broadcast

  • Thu 13 Jul 2023 22:45

Death in Trieste

Death in Trieste

A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.

Watch: My Deaf World

Watch: My Deaf World

Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.

The Book that Changed Me

Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.

Download The Essay

Download The Essay

Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.

Podcast