Dr Leona Watson

Associate Professor

School: Humanities and Social Sciences

Her doctoral research at Durham University investigated the regulation of key bio-physical flows of water, manure, blood, urine and industrial waste products in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century British townscapes, revealing remarkably well organised and effective systems of environmental regulation.

At the universities of York and Bristol, she worked on two AHRC-funded post-doctoral, environmental history research projects: 1) ‘Local Places, Global Processes’, on twentieth-century Kielder, in the North Tyne valley in Northumberland, revealing how local people’s economic, social and cultural lives were reshaped by successive environmental changes; and 2) ‘The Power and the Water’, on the environmental history of north-east England’s River Tyne (1529-2015), reconnecting the sub-themes of the river’s fish life, sanitation, pollution, riparian industry, riverine knowledge, regeneration, conservation, recreation and environmental governance. In 2015-16, she worked on an EPSRC-funded water sustainability project with civil engineers and social scientists, ‘TWENTY65’.

Leona is Co-Investigator on a three-year, AHRC-funded project, ‘Past Floods Matter’, working on historic flood mitigation and the Internal Drainage Boards (1770s to present) and she is also researching the environmental history of English brewing as a biotechnology, 1603-1830.

Campus Address

Rm 323, Lipman Building
City Campus
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 8ST

Email Leona

@LeonaSkelton1

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

I am an historian of infrastructure and the environment across Britain, from 1450 to present, with greatest expertise in relation to northern England. Over two decades, my archival and oral history research has covered: urbanisation; proto-industrialisation and industrialisation; water history; transportation networks; sanitation and public health; flood mitigation; environmental regulation and pollution; and paving, lighting and housing.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Interdisciplinary Working and Environmental History, Watson, L. 1 Nov 2024, In: Environment and History
'The Land is in Good Heart': Flood Mitigation and the Drainage Boards in Cumbria, 1844-1985, Skelton, L. 15 Jun 2020, In: Global Environment
Material Matters: Improving Berwick upon Tweed's Urban Environment, 1551-1603, Skelton, L. 19 Jan 2018, Economy and Culture in North-East England, 1500-1800 , Woodbridge, Boydell & Brewer
Mastering North-East England's 'River of Tine': efforts to manage a river's flow, functions and form, 1529-c.1800, Skelton, L. Mar 2017, Governing the Environment in the Early Modern World, Abingdon, Taylor & Francis
Regulating the Environment of the River Tyne’s Estuary, 1530-1800, Skelton, L. 1 Dec 2017, Environmental History in the Making, Switzerland, Springer
Stories of Life, Work and Nature Before and After the Clean-up of North-East England’s River Tyne, 1940–2015, Skelton, L. 1 Dec 2017, Telling Environmental Histories, Basingstoke, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan
Tyne after Tyne: An Environmental History of a River’s Battle for Protection 1529–2015, Skelton, L. 1 Mar 2017
Environmental Change: A Local Perspective on Global Processes, Skelton, L., Moon, D. 31 Mar 2016, Local Places, Global Processes, Oxford, Oxbow Books
The Kielder Oral History Project: Three Case Studies, Skelton, L. 31 Mar 2016, Local Places, Global Processes, Oxford, Oxbow Books
Sanitation in Urban Britain, 1560–1700, Skelton, L. 21 Dec 2015

Current and Recent Projects

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Life Stories of Infrastructure, Crapper, M. (Principal Investigator), Watson, L. (Co Investigator), The Leverhulme Trust, 03/04/23 - 02/04/26, £183,539.00

PGR Supervision

Adam Dixon The social, cultural and environmental impact of transport infrastructure on Tyneside during the twentieth century Start Date: 03/12/2025

Further Information

Funded Research Projects:

Leverhulme-funded 'Life Stories of Infrastructure', Co-Investigator, April 2023-March 2026, £184,000

'CLandage: Climate, Landscape and Heritage, Building Climate Resilience through Community Landscapes and Cultural Heritage', Co-Investigator, UKRI Climate Resilience Programme (August 2020-July 2022), £400,000

AHRC-funded 'Past Floods Matter', Co-Investigator (September 2017-August 2021), £379,000

AHRC-Funded 'The Power and the Water', Post-Doctoral Research Assistant (September 2013-August 2015)