This work is an examination of the transitional period spanning the end of Roman Britain and the beginning of the medieval period, in a small region centred on South Cadbury Castle, Somerset, England. It aims to set this well-known post-Roman settlement in its proper landscape and regional context through a landscape archaeological survey of the previously poorly studied hinterlands. Through this method the study moves towards a better understanding of the socio-economic processes effecting social and political change from the 3rd to 10th centuries AD. A multi-disciplinary approach is employed involving cartographic and documentary evidence; extensive geophysical survey and sample excavation revealed a remarkable continuity of land division in the rural landscape from the late prehistoric period to the modern day.