Listen to podcast
Speaker: Dr Gerry Barnes, School of History, University of East Anglia
This talk will look at Ancient Woodland and touch on other aspects of Landscape History. As an official designation, “Ancient Woodland” describes woods which have existed since the early seventeenth century, and which today contain a distinctive range of plants. Such woods are sometimes assumed to provide a direct link with the natural vegetation, as this existed before virgin forests were fragmented by early farming. The talk will show that woods are rather less stable features of the landscape than is often supposed.
Dr Gerry Barnes is a researcher in the School of History at the University of East Anglia (UEA). He did a Masters in Forestry at Oxford University in the 1970’s and later completed a PhD in Landscape History at UEA. He retired as head of Environment with Norfolk County Council in 2012. He has held a number of external positions, including Chair of the Forestry Commission Regional Advisory Committee for East England. He received an MBE for services to Forestry and Communities.