Ages and Periods - The Time Line of History 

Local History is a colourful pageant. Events and people come and go but the background scenery changes only slowly. Each act of the pageant is built upon what has gone before, and forms the foundation of what is to come. The content of our site can be viewed by its period. Here we can see contemporary happenings along with the introduction and development of new ideas and practices.

To view all documents dated in a particular century click on the relevant date, or for a selection of material on each period click the appropriate link below

1900's		20th and 21st Centuries: Within living memory. The time of two World Wars. the Nationalisation of services and key industries. The creating and dismantling of the Welfare State.
1800's		Victorian Times: Emergence of modern administration with its attendant flood of written records. Photography as a new medium.
1700's		The 17th and 18th Centuries: The Industrial Revolution, improvements in transport and communications. Stock breeding in farming, new crops and methods in arable practice.
1600's
1500's		Post Medieval: The growing power of the Church leading to conflict, the Reformation and the Civil War.
1400's
1300's		Medieval: The emergence of a monetary economy with its taxes and surveys.
1200's
1100's		Norman Times: The coming of the Normans followed the invasion of 1066. Castle building and feudal rule along with its obligations of service to the Lord. Doomsday survey and book in neighbouring England.
						The Dark Ages: The time of the founding of our earliest churches. Our area was under pressure from the westward spread of the Anglo Saxons. They reached our eastern frontier but did not penetrate beyond the Golden Valley.
AD BC					Roman Britain: Our area was overrun by a developed and well administered culture.
700				Iron Age: Larger communities, the time of Hill Fort settlements with defensive features
2500			Bronze Age: Man’s association with his local land becomes stronger and more permanent. The time of burial barrows and Bronze tools and weapons
5000		Neolithic: In the Neolithic Period man became more settled. His flint tools became more sophisticated. Husbandry and arable farming were introduced
10000	Mesolithic: The Stone Age when man was a hunter gatherer
			The time of Ice Ages, when a cap of ice covered the Black Mountains, glaciers and melt water flooded our valleys. The final act of the retreat and melt down was to form our distinctive Black Daren. The vast period of Geological Time is measured in hundreds of million years. Our Black Mountains were laid down as deposits in sea beds, covered by later formations, thrust up by the collision of continents, and eroded to the present form. Ready for the coming of man.