Bøker av Rose Hewlett

These remarkable Court of Sewers records open a window on communities of the Gloucestershire Levels between 1583 and 1642, and their struggles against encroachments from the sea in a changing political climate. They touch all walks of life from the peasantry to the county's elite. The extraordinary detail they contain about people and places make them a valuable resource for family and local historians. They are almost unique in their survival, and of national significance. From mud walls to grass embankments fortified with stone, sea walls have defended coastal Gloucestershire since Roman times, and management of flood risk and drainage on the low-lying land they protected is documented from the medieval period. Maintenance was a constant draw on labour, materials and finances, especially following the great Severn Estuary flood of 1607 and another significant inundation in 1636. This edited transcription, fully indexed, reveals the condition of the sea walls and drainage systems before and after these events. 'Sewers' here are watercourses, natural or manmade. Courts of Sewers were the forerunners of today's Internal Drainage Boards, and their form of local government deserves wider attention not only from historians, but from scientists and policymakers who seek a better understanding of historic floods. A comprehensive glossary assists the reader with unusual terminology.

The day the sea came in tells the story of a great tidal flood that happened more than 400 years ago on the Gwent Levels, South Wales. How did Thomas, Sarah and their families survive, and what adventures did they get up to? Rose Hewlett is an historian. She has been studying the 1607 flood for a long time. Her PhD research at the University of Bristol is helping people to understand why the flood happened, and how men, women and children living on the low-lying coastal lands around the Severn Sea coped in its aftermath. Rose's family has lived on both sides of the Severn Estuary for centuries.