Exploring the location of 'ancient woodland': A statistical case study in Eastern England (UK)

Statistical approaches and spatial modelling remain under-used in studies of the English rural landscape; patterns and associations in the historical environment have instead usually been treated in a subjective and impressionistic, rather than an objective and analytical, manner. In this paper we employ mathematical modelling to explore the relationship of ancient woodland to soil types and parish boundaries in eastern England. We argue that such approaches can serve to highlight relationships and associations that are not immediately apparent, as well as test the significance of those that have already been proposed, and that they should be more widely adopted in landscape history.