Edward I’s Welsh “New Towns” Digtial Atlas Now Online

Archaeological data on 11th C. colonial settlements in Wales now available to all

A section of Abertswyth, Wales, UK, displayed by the new digital atlast of Edward I’s “New Towns” (Click to enlarge)

In the 10th and 11th centuries, English King Edward I Plantagenet not only conquered Scotland (as dramatized, with more than a little inaccuracy, in the 1995 film Braveheart) but also subjugated and consolidated his control over the country of Wales, extending English control over the whole of the island of Britain and nudging the nation toward the form with which we are today familiar.

In order to assure continued control of the west, Edward occupied occupied Wales with colonies, forming the nuclei for many modern-day Welsh cities as Abertswyth. Between 1277 and 1303, a total of 13 planned settlements, or “new towns”, populated the north and west of Wales, and as such, form a historical and archaeological benchmark of no small importance.

To the end of making the historical information known available to all, worldwide, Britain’s AHDS (Arts and Humanities Data Service), in concert with the The National Library of Wales and Queen’s University Belfast and the Arts and Humanities Research Council have mounted, via the Archaeological Data Service, a new resource titled Mapping Medieval Townscapes: a digital atlas of the new towns of Edward I

WebGIS Makes It Accessable

The interface is based on a WebGIS paradigm; the user can show and hide informational layers, zoom in and out, and select individual objects on the active layer or use a selection box and information on all objects in the active layer in the marquee will be reported. The report happens in a popup window as detailed in the illustration, so users need to be sure that they are allowing popups for this site. It is reasonably quick even for dialup users.

The resource recommends the most recent MSIE or Firefox, and is free to all who can surf there, after accepting the terms and conditions.

The address of the resource is http://ads.ahds.ac.u...html?atlas_ahrb_2005.