Decline and Regeneration in Medieval English Townscapes

We present an analysis of urban landscapes as an intervention into long-running debates about the extent to which towns in later medieval England suffered from a process of ‘decline’ in the later 14th and early 15th centuries. We explore the potential of comparing patterns of regeneration both within and between towns in relation to three small towns in eastern England; Maldon (Essex), Thaxted (Essex) and Huntingdon (Cambridgeshire). By reconstructing patterns of regeneration through excavated remains and the occurrence of standing buildings we propose that archaeology serves to demonstrate the complexity, and highly contextualised character, of urban development in this period. This research is undertaken as a part of a wider UKRI funded research project ‘Urban Life in a Time of Crisis: Enduring Urbanism in Later Medieval England (ENDURE), led by Professor Ben Jervis.