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Governing flood risk in mid seventeenth-century England

McDonagh, Briony; Worthen, Hannah; Mottram, Stewart

Authors



Abstract

The paper explores how early modern people lived with and responded to extraordinary flood events at a time of environmental, social and political crisis. By focusing on a period when flood risk management ‘failed’ and houses, land and business sat under water for many months, the paper offers important insights into early modern expectations of what ‘good’ flood risk governance looked like, who was involved, and how this was negotiated and, on occasion, challenged. Using the records of the Commission of Sewers for the East Riding of Yorkshire, the paper reconstructs the causes, extent and impacts of disastrous flooding which affected Hull and Holderness in 1646 and 1647. It pays attention to the negotiations and conflicts that emerged prior to and in the aftermath of the floods, particularly as they relate to divergent readings of Sewer law and the more or less expansive geographical horizons within which flood risk management – and specifically the financial costs of flood protection – were situated by contemporaries. In doing so, we both offer lessons from the past for what we might do better in the future, and a crucial jumping off point to engage with contemporary communities around flood risk, coastal transition and inclusive resilience building for a climate changed future.

Citation

McDonagh, B., Worthen, H., & Mottram, S. (in press). Governing flood risk in mid seventeenth-century England. Journal of Historical Geography,

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Dec 2, 2024
Deposit Date Dec 2, 2024
Print ISSN 0305-7488
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4959055

This file is under embargo due to copyright reasons.

Contact B.McDonagh@hull.ac.uk to request a copy for personal use.



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