The Plot: The Story of a Father and an English Acre

The Plot - A Biography of an English Acre is an exploration of how we find a sense of belonging, about how ‘wisdom rests in places’, and about how important it is to understand the places that shape our lives.

On a remote edge of the North York moors there is a secluded acre of land, edged by woods, called Scotch Corner. A simple, stone war memorial chapel stands there, decorated with bold carvings. Madeleine Bunting’s father erected this chapel in his youth and after her father’s death she felt the desire to understand him in a way that had not been possible in his life, and in particular to understand his attachment to this plot of land.

Bunting’s book reveals Scotch Corner’s rich history, from Neolithic forts and earth works to cattle droves and romantic poets. In learning about the plot to which her father so closely tied his life, Bunting gradually reaches an understanding of the man and his ideals.