Angus Winchester is Professor Emeritus of Local & Landscape History at Lancaster University, UK. The lecture draws on his long-standing interests in the history of Cumbria and in the history of common land more generally. He became fascinated by the place of ‘storied ground’ in Quaker life when a member of Britain Yearly Meeting’s North-West 1652 and Swarthmoor Hall Committees. His particular approach to landscape history is sketched out in his latest book, The Language of the Landscape: a Journey into Lake District History (Dent: Handstand Press, 2019).