8. ANCIENT FUTURES: FARMING A MEDIEVAL LANDSCAPE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

When Adam Nicolson purchased a run-down farm in the Sussex Weald, he had no idea what the 90 acres of grass and woodland had in store for him. A poor and marginal place, in the late sixteenth century it was named Perch Hill, meaning ‘Stick Hill’, as its intractable clays, wet with springs, are good for growing little else. In planning his way forward, Adam decided to take his cue from the land, which with its small fields, meadows and coppiced woodlands hinted at ancient farming systems. The result was backbreaking but revelatory. Adam and James Holland explore what late medieval agriculture can do to mend a modern depleted world.