Our Island Stories: Country Walks through Colonial Britain

This article is from Current Archaeology issue 415

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REVIEW BY JONATHAN FINCH

Corinne Fowler’s first book, Green Unpleasant Land (2020), explored the connections between England’s colonial histories and the rural landscape, sparking a backlash from those for whom the image of rural England is at the core of their narrow view of national identity. That bruising response casts its shadow over Our Island Stories, but gives it added relevance. Whereas the first was avowedly rooted in literary responses to landscape and the past, Our Island Stories has a more historical lens. Fowler and her companions take the reader on ten walks, spread across England, Scotland, and Wales, on which they sketch out through conversation and reflection the impact colonialism and its flow of money had on various families, groups, and the wider rural landscape.

This book is an important contribution to the growing public awareness of how the colonial experience was woven into the lives and landscapes of Britain from the late 17th century. For example, the first walk addresses the connections between the Campbell family in Scotland and the Jamaican sugar industry. Another follows the Cockerell family, India, and the Mughal architecture of Sezincote House. The historical familial connections are vividly shown to hold this country close to former colonial cultures and landscapes. Although a variety of landscapes are walked and discussed, there is still a predominance of country houses and their landed owners, which can have the effect of isolating the legacies of colonialism simply within the elite, and while the landscape is the start of each excursion, and the vehicle for each discussion, it is not always at the forefront of the narrative.

Just as Fowler’s creative response to England’s colonial connections in Green Unpleasant Land was unusual, so this book – through the ten walks – is unconventional for the subject matter. It is unlikely that many will use it as a guidebook, despite the sketch maps, but if it encourages a more informed engagement with the British landscape and its colonial history, then it will have been worthwhile.

Our Island Stories: Country Walks through Colonial Britain
Corinne Fowler
Allen Lane, £25
ISBN 978-0241561638