By Black Country Archaeology Service, based within Wolverhampton City Council (2010) English Heritage Commissioned Project, Project Number 3638

The second report of the Black Country Historic Landscape Characterisation (BCHLC).

The Black Country is known as an area of mining and industry in the 18th and 19th centuries. 'Recycled Landscape: The Legacy of 250 years in the Black Country' discusses the inherited character of the area at the start of the 21st century. It shows that the collapse of mining led to a reinvention of the area, as rapid and widespread urbanisation linked previously separate historic towns. This re-use has brought a challenge for those of us interested in understanding cultural heritage: many of the features which led to the title ‘Black Country’ no longer survive, so what gives the area its character today?  The report looks at landscape features from the area’s ‘classic’ period, but also patterns from its later suburbanisation.

Download a PDF of the report

Recycled Landscape: The Legacy of 250 Years in the Black Country (7MB)

Click here to view all previous output from the HLC