A couple of books that I ordered from Amazon back along.
First one...
Title: Historic Landscapes Analysis
Sub-title: Deciphering the Countryside
Author: Stephen Rippon
ISBN: 978-1-902771-44-1
Not a coffee table book this!
More like a university study text book, in-depth and scholarly, so not really one just to dip in. It looks interesting though, if you're willing to take the time to study it. I haven't yet, but there are plenty of maps, diagrams and case studies taken from throughout Britain...and I've already learned what the earthworks 'gripes' are! 
The blurb taken from the back cover...
'The British landscape is remarkably varied in its character. To a considerable extent this results from the different ways that successive generations of human communities have created regionally distinctive patterns of agriculture and industry.
Our 'historic landscape' - the patterns of settlement, roads, fields and other land uses that make up the physical fabric of our present countryside - was described by Hoskins as the 'richest historical record we possess'.
This handbook introduces some of the techniques that archaeologists, historians, historical geographers and planners can use to unravel the complex history of the countryside. A series of case studies demonstrate practical applications of historic landscape analysis for a broad range of uses and at a variety of national and regional levels.'
So there you go!
Second book...
Title: The Lost Villages of England
Author: Maurice Beresford
ISBN: 0-86299-108-0
This one's another scholarly tome, but much more dip-in-able. It includes a complete county list of lost villages investigated, which is very useful. Sadly, there are none in Devon, although there are a few not that far away over in Dorset. Plenty in the midlands and elsewhere though. The publisher's blurb...
'Among existing villages in the English countryside are the sites of many others which have not been fortunate enough to survive, though six hundred years or so ago they were little different from their neighbours. Professor Beresford has located these lost villages and he describes the occassion of their depopulation and the character of those who destroyed them. Aerial photographs and ground plans of characteristic sites are included, together with maps to show the local distribution of lost villages. There is also a gazetteer, giving listings by county, with map references for identification.
A classic pioneering study which is an important contribution to economic history and historical geography, as well as a guide-book to an unexplored part of the English landscape.'
Both well worth it if you want to make a study of researching the landscape for yourself, interpreting what you see, and for visiting sites and remains of lost villages. Enjoy!
First one...
Title: Historic Landscapes Analysis
Sub-title: Deciphering the Countryside
Author: Stephen Rippon
ISBN: 978-1-902771-44-1
Not a coffee table book this!
More like a university study text book, in-depth and scholarly, so not really one just to dip in. It looks interesting though, if you're willing to take the time to study it. I haven't yet, but there are plenty of maps, diagrams and case studies taken from throughout Britain...and I've already learned what the earthworks 'gripes' are! The blurb taken from the back cover...'The British landscape is remarkably varied in its character. To a considerable extent this results from the different ways that successive generations of human communities have created regionally distinctive patterns of agriculture and industry.
Our 'historic landscape' - the patterns of settlement, roads, fields and other land uses that make up the physical fabric of our present countryside - was described by Hoskins as the 'richest historical record we possess'.
This handbook introduces some of the techniques that archaeologists, historians, historical geographers and planners can use to unravel the complex history of the countryside. A series of case studies demonstrate practical applications of historic landscape analysis for a broad range of uses and at a variety of national and regional levels.'
So there you go!
Second book...
Title: The Lost Villages of England
Author: Maurice Beresford
ISBN: 0-86299-108-0
This one's another scholarly tome, but much more dip-in-able.
It includes a complete county list of lost villages investigated, which is very useful. Sadly, there are none in Devon, although there are a few not that far away over in Dorset. Plenty in the midlands and elsewhere though. The publisher's blurb...'Among existing villages in the English countryside are the sites of many others which have not been fortunate enough to survive, though six hundred years or so ago they were little different from their neighbours. Professor Beresford has located these lost villages and he describes the occassion of their depopulation and the character of those who destroyed them. Aerial photographs and ground plans of characteristic sites are included, together with maps to show the local distribution of lost villages. There is also a gazetteer, giving listings by county, with map references for identification.
A classic pioneering study which is an important contribution to economic history and historical geography, as well as a guide-book to an unexplored part of the English landscape.'
Both well worth it if you want to make a study of researching the landscape for yourself, interpreting what you see, and for visiting sites and remains of lost villages. Enjoy!
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