One of many examples of a nucleated village in England is
Shapwick, Somerset. Many nucleated villages originated in
Anglo-Saxon England, but historian
W. G. Hoskins discredits a previously held view that uniquely associated nucleated villages with that influx to England and their emergent society. In England, nucleated settlements prevail for example in central parts of the country away from the rockiest soil and steepest slopes where open field farming predominated. In this landscape, the village was typically surrounded by two (or three) large fields in which villagers had individual strips – see
open field system. Various explanations have been offered as to the reason for this form of settlement including the ethnic origin of the
Anglo-Saxon settlers, density of population and the influence of local lords of the
manor. Tom Williamson theorised in 2004 that the best explanation is the combination of
soil quality and climate which leads to differences in agricultural techniques for exploiting local conditions. Planned settlements can be clearly distinguished from other communities in the late medieval period when landowners began to en masse allocate two rows of new houses set on equal-sized plots of land –
burgage plots. At the opposite end of the burgage plot there is often a
back lane which gives the original village a regular layout, right-angled development, which can often still be seen today in England. In small villages,
toft and croft landuse patterns have a similar effect. Planned villages were usually associated with markets, from which the landowner expected to make profits. ==Central Europe==