This study of land settlement and use in the Kentish Weald covers the period of 900 years from the coming of the Jutes, when the Weald was chiefly primeval forest, until the eve of the Peasants' Revolt, by which time the archetype of the landscape we know today had been created. Supplementing the evidence from documentary and other sources such as place names by a life-long familiarity with the region, Mr Witney describes the forest as the Jutes found it and identifies the various admini­strative divisions and subdivisions it underwent before being broken up into swine pastures (or dens) which were later cultivated. The account is closely linked to developments in North Kent which the evolution of the Wealden commons reflected. The story ends with the protracted struggles between manorial lords and densmen over forest rights, which ushered in a new order of society.