The medieval Lindsey Marsh

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The marsh district of Lindsey (Lincolnshire) is a coastal belt some six to nine miles wide between the sea and the Wolds. This volume is an edition of almost 100 documents derived mainly from collections in the Lincolnshire Archives Office, British Library and Public Record Office, relating principally to the southern half of the Marsh between the Humber and the Wash. Dating from the late 12th century to the first years of the 16th, with a few exceptions they have never previously been published. They are of particular interest for the history of land drainage and the upkeep of the sea defences, for both of which the medieval Commissioners of Sewers (watercourses) had an overall responsibility on a coast especially liable to erosion and flooding. Other topics dealt with include charters concerning the keeping of sheep outside the sea banks; material on local religious houses; extracts from manor court rolls; and will abstracts. The editor provides explanatory notes ranging from a simple precis to a nearly full translation to the documents, which are mostly in Latin; there is also a selective glossary covering items in the vernacular, an introduction, and full indexes of subjects, persons and places.