Welsh Journals

deserve comprehensive studies. An inspection of the Cistercian abbeys reminds us that their foundation was not due in all cases to the Normans and Anglo-Normans (Norman 7; Welsh 6; uncertain 3). The bibliography lists all that has been written on individual orders in Wales and has been brought up to date. Regrettably most of the books concerned with Wales are old ones, and in all too many cases reference has had to be made to J. E. Lloyd's classic, which enters its proud seventh decennium without being supplanted! Two corrections may be made: p. 430, the date of the Life of St. Cadoc should be c. 1090, not c. 1075 (cf. National Library of Wales Journal, VII (1951-52), 217); p. 436, Gilbert, bishop of St. Asaph, was consecrated in 1141, not 1143 (ibid., XVI (1969-70), 225). MICHAEL RICHTER University College, Dublin DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGES. Edited by Maurice Beresford and John G. Hurst. Lutterworth Press, Woking, 1971. Pp. xviii. 340. 31 plates. £ 8.00. This lavishly-produced and, in consequence, expensive book contains a rather odd collection of pieces, ranging from attempts at synthesis by the editors to practical tips for local enthusiasts on how to co-ordinate their activities with the Deserted Medieval Village Research group. Within this range are included gazeteers of known sites throughout the British Isles, general bibliographies and lists of published excavation reports. There is, in fact, something for everyone interested in the topic, professional or amateur, though this is a divide often happily bridged in the practical work on deserted sites which Professor Beresford has done so much to inspire. It is a work therefore that everybody should aim to get in his or her local library. The core of the book for the historian consists of a retrospective article by Professor Beresford, a review of archaeological research by Mr. Hurst and a comment by Professor Beresford on Mr. Hurst's paper. These are followed by tantalisingly brief pieces on Scotland, Wales and Ireland by Messrs. Fairhurst, Dunbar, Butler and Glasscock. The fact that Professor Beresford has done so much for the subject in the past has had a somewhat limiting effect on his contribution here, since he tends to remain imprisoned within his own categories. His review of historical research is deliberately based on the subject headings of his popular book, Lost Villages of England, the aim being to see to what extent subsequent research has modified his original conclusions. This is a pity because, although of considerable bibliographical interest, it does not give the author the opportunity to develop completely new lines of thought. He does introduce some new ideas into his commentary on Mr. Hurst's article-a speculation, for instance, on whether, or how, a rise in peasant incomes in the fifteenth century could be reflected in the archaeological evidence. But since he and Mr. Hurst have worked together so closely, it might have been better had this 'historian's appraisal' of the archaeological evidence been written by a third person less involved with the Beresford- Hurst team.