Inland water transport in medieval England

Abstract

Edwards and Hindle's recent article in this journal overstates its case for an extensive water transport system in medieval England and Wales. Using purveyance accounts, this study shows that inland waterways were not as extensive as Edwards and Hindle have claimed. Many routes were also used infrequently, often because of climatic or seasonal restrictions, while other evidence suggests that the inland water network as a whole seems to have been in decline during the later during the later middle ages. Nor did inland water transport necessarily result in an integrated transport system in medieval England. Rather the effects of inland water transport were unevenly felt and, indeed, accentuated the difference between economically advantaged and disadvantaged areas, particularly east and west. Edwards and Hindle's linking of urban growth to an extension of the inland water transport system is equally difficult to sustain. Altogether, a more sensitive appraisal of the degree and potentialities of inland water transport is needed to assess accurately its importance for the medieval English economy.