Books We Like...

Lancashire's Sacred Landscape: from Prehistory to the Viking Age, ed. by Linda Sever (The History Press, 2010)

A new collection published by The History Press, and edited by a good friend and colleague of mine. As a Lancashire lass myself (well, near enough), I think it's great to see a book exploring some of the rich historical and folkloric heritage of the county. Here's what the publishers say:

Lancashire, situated in the north west of England, does not at first tend to conjure up an image of 'a sacred landscape'. But look a bit deeper and one will discover a vast array of sites of ritual and early worship. Archaeological remains of prehistoric stone circles, cairns and burial chambers, pre-Christian place-names, Anglo-Saxon and Viking stone sculpture, as well as tales of fairies and 'otherworldly' creatures within the folklore and legend are spread throughout the county. Within this book the reader will find a discussion of all these, including a comprehensive gazetteer of prehistoric sites, listings of place names, locations of stone sculpture and detailed analyses of carvings and the inscriptions upon them, as well as a personal, experiential approach to landscape. Extensive photographs illustrate the sites described within the chapters.

The contributors to this book are from a variety of academic disciplines - geology, archaeology, art history, history, place-name and folklore research. They have spent many years deeply engaged in their own different areas of research in order to produce this wide-ranging material. Each chapter is accompanied by details of how to visit the sites in discussion.

For more information, please click here.