Abstract
People tend to think that crop cultivation was the main livelihood in medieval Europe. However, cultivation was not the main livelihood everywhere, it depended on the natural environment of the area. One such area was the upland of north-west England, including the Lake District. This paper examines a reconstruction of rural landscapes and the feature of transhumance in the Lake District, taking the township of Troutbeck as an example, based on historical documents, topography, place names, and archaeological knowledge, as well as a comparison with the present.
Regarding landscape, the three land types of "inbye – intake – open fell" are now the standard. By contrast, in the late medieval period, the bottom of the valley in Troutbeck had a long and narrow settlement, a common arable land, and a common meadow, which were enclosed by ring-garth rather than by a dry stone wall. On the other hand, the fell, including the gentle slope, was open. Therefore, there was no inbye or intake in late medieval Troutbeck.
Regarding transhumance, summer grazing in late medieval Troutbeck took place in open fell common ground, based on the "shieling". There was also the "outgang", routes by which tenants moved livestock from the farm to the fell, this remains in use. A medieval system called a "stint", which limits the number of animals that can be pastured in the commons, is still being used. In the late medieval period, "stints" were managed between lords and tenants, while current "stints" can be rented, borrowed, bought, and sold. Also in the late medieval period, transhumance was closely associated with farming and stock raising in common arable land and common meadow, however, there is no common arable land or common meadow today.
Therefore, Troutbeck's late medieval landscape and transhumance differ from the current ones in many
ways, and their "continuity" between the late medieval and present period should thus not be overemphasized.
https://ror.org/0496p0503 
