Ringlands is a scholarly and fascinating study into ancient monastic boundaries which are still visible in the landscape of Britain and Ireland today.

This study was designed to explore possible causes for unexplained curvature of some roads as shown on Ordnance Survey maps of Great Britain and Ireland.  The construction of putative circles completing the arcs of the selected road, revealed a surprising involvement of monastic sites and early parish churches, leading to an inescapable conclusion that the circles represent the boundaries of monastic lands, or estates, on a magnificent scale, unsuspected until now.  The later involvement of the castles, as guardian or sponsors of the monasteries in both countries, is also clearly identified by this study.

Downloading advice.  As this eBook has a great many images (sketch-maps), and totals 65 mB, it is best to SAVE the PDF to your computer before opening it. 

About the author

Richard Willis was born in London and was self-educated at Harrow School.  He joined the Navy in 1942, serving in destroyers and landing craft.  He was wounded during the Normandy landings carrying American tanks.  He served in Italy and Malta.  On leaving the Navy in 1946, he took up a profession in art.  He now lives in Somerset.