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20-767: The plateau consists of typical Norman bocage and is bounded by the Seine estuary to the north, the Risle valley to the east, the Charentonne valley to the south and, in the west, the Pays d'Auge which corresponds to the Touques basin. The economy is primarily agricultural. The largest towns are Beuzeville , Épaignes , Lieurey and Thiberville . 49°16′N 0°29′E  /  49.27°N 0.48°E  / 49.27; 0.48 This Eure geographical article

40-461: A nucleated village . The French term bocage is sometimes used to describe the type of landscape found where dispersed settlements are common. In addition to Western Europe, dispersed patterns of settlement are found in parts of Papua New Guinea , as among the Gainj, Ankave, and Baining tribes. It is also frequently met with in nomadic pastoral societies. In Ghana, Kumbyili in the northern region

60-633: A small forest, a decorative element of leaves, or a type of rubble-work , comparable with the English use of "rustic" in relation to garden ornamentation. In the decorative arts, especially porcelain , it refers to a leafy screen spreading above and behind figures. Though found on continental figures, it is something of an English speciality, beginning in the mid-18th century, especially in Chelsea porcelain , and later spreading to more downmarket Staffordshire pottery figures. In English, bocage refers to

80-522: A terrain of mixed woodland and pasture, with fields and winding country lanes sunken between narrow low ridges and banks surmounted by tall thick hedgerows that break the wind but also limit visibility. It is the sort of landscape found in many parts of southern England, for example the Devon hedge and Cornish hedge . However the term is more often found in technical than general usage in England. In France

100-500: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Bocage Bocage ( UK : / b ə ˈ k ɑː ʒ / , US : / ˈ b oʊ k ɑː ʒ / BOH -kahzh ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of northern France, southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands , northern Spain and northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. Bocage may also refer to

120-497: Is a typical description of the landscape in an area of dispersed settlements. Anthony Galt has written an extensive study of the dispersed settlement pattern around Locorotondo in the Province of Bari in southern Italy. In this case, the settlement pattern developed because of movement from the town to the countryside in the 19th century. Emphyteutic leases were used by landowners seeking to increase their income from land that

140-573: Is also an example of a dispersed settlement In England, dispersed settlements are often found in the areas of ancient enclosure outside the central region—for example, Essex , Kent and the West Country . An example of a dispersed settlement given by W G Hoskins is Middle Barton in Steeple Barton , Oxfordshire . In some parts of England, the pattern of dispersed settlement has remained unchanged for many hundreds of years. Many of

160-422: Is characterised by bocage landscape, a consequence of pastoral farming which requires enclosure for the management of herds. Approximately 5% of Ireland's land area is devoted to hedges, field walls and shelterbelts . In the more fertile areas these usually consist of earthen banks, which are planted with or colonised by trees and shrubs; this vegetation can give the impression of a wooded landscape, even where there

180-654: Is little or no woodland. This pattern of hedgerows was largely established in the late 18th and 19th centuries, a period when Ireland was virtually devoid of natural woodland. Modern intensive agriculture has tended to increase field size by removing hedgerows, a trend which for years was promoted by the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union and recently has been countered by the European Union's agricultural policies favouring

200-549: The battlefield might contain hundreds of irregular hedged enclosures. In response, " Rhino tanks " fitted with bocage-cutting modifications were developed. American personnel usually referred to bocages as hedgerows . The German army also used sunken lanes to implement strong points and defences to stop the American troops on the Cotentin Peninsula and around the town of Saint-Lô . Almost all of lowland Ireland

220-726: The bocage acquired a particular significance in the Chouannerie during the French Revolution. The bocage was also significant during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, as it made progress against the German defenders difficult. Plots of land were divided by ancient rows of dirt alongside drainage ditches; thick vegetation on these dirt mounds could create walls up to 16 feet/4.8 metres high. A typical square mile on

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240-420: The conservation of wildlife habitats. Dispersed settlement A dispersed settlement , also known as a scattered settlement , is one of the main types of settlement patterns used by landscape historians to classify rural settlements found in England and other parts of the world. Typically, there are a number of separate farmsteads scattered throughout the area. A dispersed settlement contrasts with

260-440: The dispersed settlement are often surrounded by small irregularly shaped fields. Traditionally, trees are encouraged to grow at the edges of these fields and in thin strips alongside roads. However, during the 20th century, much of this woodland disappeared, either as a result of disease or modern farming practice. Arthur Young 's description of the view from Langdon Hills , "dark lanes intersected with numberless hedges and woods,"

280-510: The effects of this was the importation of Russian wheat, which was cheaper than English wheat at that time. The enclosures common in the bocage countryside favoured sheep husbandry and limited English cereal grain production, and as a consequence of this policy, the rural exodus was amplified, accelerating the Industrial Revolution . The surplus of agricultural workers migrated to the cities to work in factories. In Normandy ,

300-401: The fields and meadows are enclosed by earth banks carrying hedges or rows of trees and where the habitation is generally dispersed in farms and hamlets." In southeast England, in spite of a sedimentary soil which would not fit this landscape, a bocage resulted from the movement to enclose what were once open fields . During the 17th century, England developed an ambitious sea policy. One of

320-462: The locations found in Domesday may be dispersed farmsteads. It is sometimes possible to identify documentary references to farmsteads in the 18th and 19th centuries with these Domesday entries. In areas of Kent and Essex close to London, the development of residential housing during the 20th century has often disguised the dispersed nature of the original settlement. The farmsteads which make up

340-546: The original root is thought to be the Proto-Germanic *bŏsk- . The boscage form seems to have developed its meaning under the influence of eighteenth-century romanticism . The 1934 Nouveau Petit Larousse defined bocage as "a bosquet , a little wood, an agreeably shady wood" and a bosquet as "a little wood, a clump of trees". By 2006, the Petit Larousse definition had become "(Norman word) Region where

360-924: The term is in more general use, especially in Normandy , with a similar meaning. Bocage landscape in France is largely confined to Normandy, Brittany , Burgundy and parts of the Loire valley . Bocage is a Norman word that comes from the Old Norman boscage (Anglo-Norman boscage , Old French boschage ), from the Old French root bosc ("wood") > Modern French bois ("wood") cf. Medieval Latin boscus (first mentioned in 704 AD). The Norman place names retain it as Bosc- , -bosc , Bosc- , pronounced traditionally [bɔk] or [bo] . The suffix -age means "a general thing". The boscage form

380-466: Was only marginally attractive for agriculture by encouraging the creation of vineyards . Known as Streusiedlungen (singular Streusiedlung ), dispersed settlements are a characteristic of various parts of German-speaking Europe , including in areas of Westphalia , historically the Ruhr urban area (the dispersed settlements lending themselves to the development of urban sprawl after industrialisation),

400-493: Was used in English for "growing trees or shrubs; a thicket, grove; woody undergrowth" and to refer to decorative design imitating branches and foliage or leafy decoration such as is found on eighteenth-century porcelain; since early twentieth century this usually called "bocage". Similar words occur in Scandinavian (cf. Swedish buskage ; Danish buskads ) and other Germanic languages (cf. Dutch bos , boshaag );

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