Dr Eleanor Straughton

Research Interests

My research interests include common resources, environmental governance, and cultural attitudes towards landscape, with a particular interest in the northern English uplands.

I am currently working on the 'Contested Common Land Project' in collaboration with colleagues in Lancaster University History Department, Newcastle Law School and Newcastle Institute for Informatics. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under the Landscape and Environment Programme. The aim of our project is to explore the management and governance of common land in England and Wales between c.1600-2006, with a particular focus on sustainability, and with case study areas in Cumbria, Yorkshire, Powys and Norfolk. The project began in February 2007 and will run for three years. Our project website (http://commons.ncl.ac.uk) provides project information and research resources includings maps, briefing and conference papers, galleries of images, project news and events, and links to other relevant websites.

I began my research interest in common land in 2000 when I started my doctoral research into the governance of upland common land in Cumbria, c.1800-1965. Following completion of the PhD I worked as the project officer on the Cumbrian Manorial Records Project - a partnership between Lancaster University History Department, Cumbria Archive Service and The National Archives. The project's online guide to using and interpreting manorial records can be found at: www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/manorialrecords/index.htm

Additional Information

Publications

New book published Autumn 2008:

Common Grazing in the Northern English Uplands, 1800-1965: A History of National Policy and Local Practice with Special Attention to the Case of Cumbria (Lewiston, NY & Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2008). ISBN-13: 978-0-7734-4954-1. ISBN-10: 0-7734-4954-X. To see reviews and ordering details for this book, please visit the publisher's website at: http://www.mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?bookid=7525&pc=9.

Previous publications:

Article: 'Sources in local history: finding and using manorial records', with A. J. L. Winchester, The Local Historian, 37, 2 (2007).

Published conference paper: 'Upland common land: the historical record', International Journal of Biodiversity Science & Management, 3 (2006), pp. 159-161.

Cumbrian Manorial Records, with A. J. L. Winchester, online publication, History Department, Lancaster University (September 2006), www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/manorialrecords/index.htm

Contributory chapter: 'Beyond enclosure: upland common land in England and Wales since 1800', in A. J. L. Winchester and I. D. Whyte (editors) Society, Landscape and Environment in Upland Britain (Society for Landscape Studies, Supplementary series 2), Birmingham: Society for Landscape Studies, 2004, pp.89-98. ISBN 0 9539711 1 2.

Ongoing project outputs:

Contested Common Land Project website, papers and resources:

Content of the project website (http://commons.ncl.ac.uk) is co-authored by project members (E.A. Straughton, A.J.L. Winchester, C.P. Rodgers, M. Pieraccini, D.G. Jackson, and P.L. Olivier). Working papers are also posted and updated regularly on this site. Working papers currently available on the project Resources page (http://commons.ncl.ac.uk/?q=node/6) include:

Straughton, E.A., Regulation of common land under the Commons Act 1876: central and local perspectives (Conference paper presented at the IASC - International Association for the Study of the Commons - 12th Biennial Conference, Cheltenham, 16 July 2008).

Winchester, A.J.L. and Straughton, E.A., Stints and sustainability: managing stock levels on common land in England, c.1600-2006 (Paper presented at the Contested Common Land Symposium, IAS Building, Lancaster University, 11-12 September 2008).

Winchester, A.J.L. and Straughton, E.A., Historical Approaches to Case Study Areas (March 2007)

Winchester, A.J.L. and Straughton, E.A., Eskdale Historical Briefing Paper (revised September 2008)

Winchester, A.J.L. and Straughton, E.A., Ingleton Historical Briefing Paper (revised July 2008)

Winchester, A.J.L. and Straughton, E.A., Ingleton Commons (revised July 2008)

Winchester, A.J.L. and Straughton, E.A., Elan and Claerwen Valleys Historical Briefing Paper (July 2008)

To download the latest versions, please follow this link to our Resources page: http://commons.ncl.ac.uk/?q=node/6.

• Building Commons Knowledge

  01/07/2012 → 31/08/2013
  This project arose out of the AHRC-funded ‘Contested Common Land’ project, undertaken in a collaboration between Newcastle Law School and Lancaster University History Department between 2007 and ... Read more»

• Findings of Major Research Project Published

  09/11/2010
  The findings of a major three-year research project funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council are now available in a newly-published book from Earthscan, entitled Contested Common Land: Env ... Read more»