Anglo-Saxon Landscapes at the Time of the Norman Conquest

Anglo-Saxon Landscapes at the Time of the Norman Conquest Anglo-Saxon Landscapes Time Norman Conquest 84657341767.jpg

The Anglo-Saxon way of life was significantly changed by the appearance of the Normans in the later eleventh century. Architecture and horticulture were abilities that the Normans excelled in, trumping that of the Anglo-Saxons at the time of the occupation. Nonetheless the Normans had to pacify the overall territory before they could focus on home life, domestic architecture, and decoration. Castles were more standard designs and often built on blustery hills, where their people devoted both time and space to practicing offense and defense, while monasteries were large stone buildings, mostly positioned in the widest, most fruitful hollows. The calm method of gardening was impractical in these dismal bastions. The finest specimen of the early Anglo-Norman style of architecture existent presently is Berkeley Castle. It is said that the keep was developed during William the Conqueror's time. An enormous terrace encompasses the building, serving as an obstruction to attackers wanting to excavate under the castle walls. A picturesque bowling green, covered in grass and enclosed by battlements clipped out of an ancient yew hedge, forms one of the terraces.

Rome’s Early Water Delivery Solutions

Rome’s Early Water Delivery Solutions With the construction of the very first raised aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, people who lived on the city’s hills no longer had to be dependent entirely on naturally-occurring spring water for their needs. If inhabitants residing at higher elevations did not have access to springs or the aqueduct, they’d have to depend on the remaining existing technologies of the day, cisterns that collected rainwater from the sky and subterranean wells that drew the water from below ground. Starting in the sixteenth century, a new method was introduced, using Acqua Vergine’s subterranean portions to deliver water to Pincian Hill. Pozzi, or manholes, were constructed at regular intervals along the aqueduct’s channel. The manholes made it easier to maintain the channel, but it was also achievable to use buckets to remove water from the aqueduct, as we viewed with Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi when he operated the property from 1543 to 1552, the year he died. Apparently, the rainwater cistern on his property wasn’t good enough to fulfill his needs. Fortunately, the aqueduct sat just below his property, and he had a shaft opened to give him access.