Theme: Britain's changing landscape

The fields, roads, hedges and towns around you were shaped by people over thousands of years. You can read the landscape like a history book.

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From forests to fields

Early farmers cleared forests to make fields. Iron Age people built hill forts on high ground.
The Romans built long, straight roads, such as Watling Street, and Hadrian's Wall, begun in AD 122.
In the Middle Ages, open fields were divided into strips, leaving ridge and furrow that can still be seen.

Enclosure, canals and railways

Enclosure joined scattered strips into separate fields with hedges and fences. Between 1604 and 1914 Parliament passed over 5,200 enclosure bills, covering about 6.8 million acres, just over a fifth of England. Many poor families lost the right to use common land.
The Bridgewater Canal (1761) carried coal to Manchester and started a boom in canal building. From the 1830s, railways cut across the countryside.
Industrial towns grew fast, with factories, terraced houses and smoke.

Protecting and planning

In 1932 walkers made a mass trespass on Kinder Scout in the Peak District to demand the right to roam.
An Act of 1949 created national parks; the Peak District became the first in 1951.
The New Towns Act (1946) planned new towns such as Stevenage to rehouse people from bomb-damaged and crowded cities.
PeriodHow the landscape changed
PrehistoryForests cleared; hill forts
RomanStraight roads; Hadrian's Wall
MedievalOpen fields; ridge and furrow
1750 to 1850Enclosure hedges; canals
1830s onwardsRailways; industrial towns
After 1945New towns; national parks
Worked example

Explain one way enclosure changed the countryside and one way it changed people's lives.

  1. Landscape: open strips were replaced by separate fields with hedges and fences.
  2. People: many poor villagers lost the right to graze animals or collect fuel on common land.
  3. Some moved to towns to find work, which links enclosure to the Industrial Revolution.

Answer: It created hedged fields, and it pushed some poor families off the land.

Key idea

People have shaped the landscape: forest clearance and hill forts; Roman roads and Hadrian's Wall (AD 122); medieval ridge and furrow; enclosure (over 5,200 bills, 1604 to 1914); Bridgewater Canal (1761) and railways (1830s); Kinder Scout trespass (1932); national parks (Peak District 1951); New Towns Act (1946).

Key words
1914
Britain declares war on Germany, 4 August.
Parliament
The assembly that makes laws. In Britain it is the monarch, the House of Lords and the elected House of Commons.

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Extra practice

2 more questions

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  1. Which emperor ordered Hadrian's Wall?

    1. Hadrian
    2. Claudius
    3. Caesar
    4. Nero
    Show the answer

    Answer: Hadrian

    Hadrian ordered it in AD 122.

  2. What replaced the open field system after enclosure?

    1. Separate fields with hedges or fences
    2. Long scattered strips
    3. Forests
    4. Railways
    Show the answer

    Answer: Separate fields with hedges or fences

    Enclosure created separate fields.

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Sources and references

Checked by the GCSE-ready editorial team, 16 October 2026. Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.