(\N historical geography of England before a.d. 1800' was first published by xxthe Cambridge University Press 1936. The preface describes it as in sense, experimental. That it ended at 1800 had no great significance; this date was chosen largely because the geography of the nineteenth century had recently been covered certain chapters of Sir John Clapham's 'An economic history of Modern Britain.'1 At any rate, 1800 was convenient date, and we seemed to have lacked either the equipment, or maybe the resolution, to go beyond it. The preface also says that, quite deliberately, no attempt was made to provide a philosophical introduction. I well remember thinking over this and, for better or for worse, coming to the conclusion that the time for writing methodological essay had not yet come. All this was over ago, and I think, or at any rate I hope, that we now can view the experiment objectively. This seems convenient moment for stock-taking, and not only for stock-taking but for review of the tasks that have yet to be accomplished before well-balanced and satisfying 'Historical geography of England' can be written. While twenty years or so is mathematically correct, some five or six of those saw our minds occupied with other matters, and this must be remembered when we think of what has been done since. After this interval of time, two lines of thought suggest themselves?the first concerned with the method or the design, the second with the material or the sources that are available.
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Nov 1, 2013
Hugh Clout 
Open Access
