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The Fens

Discovering England's Ancient Depths

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The Fens

By: Francis Pryor
Narrated by: Francis Pryor
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About this listen

Whenever I travel somewhere else, in upland Britain, I find the hills and the horizon are leaning towards me, as if trying to cover me over; to blinker my gaze and stifle my imagination. It's always a huge relief to get back to the infinite vistas of the Fens.

The Fens is Britain's most distinctive, complex, man-made and least understood landscape. Francis Pryor has lived in, excavated, farmed, walked and loved the Fen Country for more than 40 years: its levels and drains, its soaring churches and magnificent medieval buildings.

In The Fens, he counterpoints the history of the Fenland landscape and its transformation - the great drainage projects that created the Old and New Bedford Rivers, the Ouse Washes and Bedford Levels, the rise of prosperous towns and cities, such as King's Lynn, Cambridge, Peterborough, Boston and Lincoln - with the story of his own discovery of it as an archaeologist.

©2019 Francis Pryor (P)2019 Head of Zeus Archaeology Biological Sciences Ecosystems & Habitats Europe Great Britain Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Travel Writing & Commentary England Royalty

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Critic reviews

"Pryor feels the land rather than simply knowing it." (Guardian)

"Francis Pryor brings the magic of the Fens to life in a deeply personal and utterly enthralling way." (Tony Robinson)
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I have lived in the fens all my life, I am from two families of true Fen People, I have links to the first Dean of Ely Cathedral, so I had high hopes for this book.

The first chapter the author talked of Ely Cathedral and my heart lifted, I read some details about the book before buying it and had high hopes.
However, there is very little in fact about Ely or that area. This book very much centres around Peterborough and the authors digs.

Disappointment aside, I enjoyed the book, I liked learning about the history of the fens even if it was not the area I had hoped. I love the way the author sees places such as Kings Lynn, he describes it as I see it, I love the place most do not. In a way I wish he had spoken a bit more about places such as kings Lynn, Ely, Wisbech he is so informative when he does. There is a chapter entitled Devils Dyke, I was looking forward to that but it was hardly mentioned.

If you like to know about history of the fens, around Peterborough and the edge of Lincoln then this is really what this book is about. It is about the past, about the authors digs mainly.

The author is very knowledgeable, but does repeat himself a great deal,the book reads like it was not proof read.

I learned a great deal I did not know, and I do not regret reading it. Currently I live in Spain and this book did make me miss my homeland.

I would recommend it with the above notes, its not what I had hoped for.

There was nothing not to like

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I've long known of Francis Pryor as an archaeologist but did not know how passionate he is about the Fens until I listened to this book, read by the author himself. He has a rather avuncular voice which draws the listener in, allaying any fear of the book being as dry as the drained fen fields. He is amusing as well as informative with a knowledge of his subject, second to none. The occasional slip made me smile, such as "as the flow cries" - possibly left for that very reason.

I took my time "reading" this to take in the many interesting facts and anecdotes. Being a lifelong native of the area around the Lincolnshire fens, and having lived and worked in Peterborough for most of my working life, I know the places he talks about, however I find I only knew a fraction of the history of the land I have taken for granted.

I can highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in learning how fascinating the Fens can be, certainly not "flat and boring" as I have heard them often described.

There is a depth and sincerity here, and I found the ending very thought-provoking. I'll be dipping into this again, if not the entire book, many times. In fact, it has inspired me to buy the hard copy as well.

Amazing how interesting the Fens really are.

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Although sometimes I felt the flow of the book suffered from the style of narration I enjoyed it. Have worked in the vicinity and never knew much about the area so I better informed and want to find out more.

Interesting

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I always thought the Cambridgeshire Fens a boring and featureless place and would never fail to tell other people how boring it was, this state of mind wasn't helped much by the fact that my mother in law lived in Spalding. As I've grown older my viewpoint has changed a little but not much. However having picked up this book in Waterstones I found it offered a little more of an insight into the region from a totally different perspective. I picked this book up in Waterstones and I'm so glad I did as it is a wonderful read and I would fully recommend it to those who know the area and want to find out much more about it. Also to those who don't but may have some pre-conceived ideas about this landscape. I also brought the Audio book to listen to when I next make the long trip along the A16.

Featureless Fens ?

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A very informative, comfortable journey through an area of national historic significance, which Pryor knows in the kind of way that can only stem from a lifetime of work, exploration and intrigue.
Highly recommended.

The Fens

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