AngloSaxon Settlements Author:Della Hooke The Anglo-Saxon period, once termed "the dark ages", can now be seen to have been one of the most formative periods in English history. During the seven centuries that elapsed after the collapse of Roman Britain, changes took place which laid the foundation of the culture and natural environment of the Middle Ages. The English landscape began to... more » assume its medieval outline. Large areas of the chalklands of southern Britain, once heavily cultivated, became open downland. Thick woodland survived or regenerated over parts of the southern counties and midlands, and pastoral landscapes began to characterize much of the north and the west. In the most intensively cultivated regions, the typical nucleated English village began to be established and form the network of parishes and counties that remained almost unaltered for nine hundred years. With the coming of Christianity, a pattern of monasteries, abbeys and churches accelerated the development of larger settlements that frequently became the market towns of later periods. This volume of new essays by historians, archaeologists and geographers shows that a clear picture of Anglo-Saxon settlement is now emerging.« less