David Hall read chemistry at Oxford University, and a career in research chemistry followed, but he actively pursued his interests in local history and archaeology. He undertook excavations in the 1960s although archaeological fieldwork developed as his main interest. In 1976 he took up a post in Cambridge for the Cambridgeshire Archaeological Committee and the Department of the Environment, with responsibility for recording the archaeology and landscape of the Fens.

Medieval fields have been studied by historians, historical geographers and archaeologists for well over a century, and yet very few accurate accounts are readily available. David Hall gives a detailed insight into the characteristic components of medieval fields, techniques of archaeological fieldwork that have revolutionised their study, and the multi-dsciplinary approach to pinpointing their origins.