Land and ownership

J.B. Jackson
The Vernacular Landscape

Eco-friendly from the start?
No natural elements in the landscape could be owned or controlled by an individual. No one could control or exploit fire, water, earth or air.

Absence of permanent fences. The meadow, the forest, the field shared by all villagers. There even seems to have been an effort to enlarge these natural spaces in the landscape.

The right to use these resources derives from membership in a family/community: a web of interpersonal relationships produces and preserves the vernacular landscape, not a direct relationship with the environment itself.

The two kinds of wealth:
- movable property (not identified with any particular place)
- land (a visible, permanent sign of membership in a community)

The medieval triad of spaces:
- woodland
- grazing
- pasture