The English Village: History and Traditions

by Martin Wainwright

The village remains a quintessential and much-loved treasure of the English countryside. This rural idyll has inspired generations of great poets, novelists, and artists including the likes of Constable, Hardy, Wordsworth, as well as providing the picturesque setting for modern TV series such as Lark Rise to Candleford and Cranford. The English Village celebrates all that is unique and loved about a typical village—the pub, the green, the school, the church, the pond, the local shop and more—as well as exploring how the village has changed over the centuries. Also includes fascinating information on the origins of village names—Siddington, for example, means the farm of the valley ( valley, belonging to, farmland). Beautifully illustrated, and filled with facts, figures, customs, and lore, there is a wealth of fascinating information to be discovered in this charming book.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature, Architecture, Travel, Historical

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2011

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Moderately useful overview of various aspects of village life, with a practical and economic focus.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved this. however while reading it i had benjy bratton in my head going "small towns are also a facial recognition-based social control system from which many people have given their lives to escape"

[Deborah Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

This small guide to the English Village would make an ideal gift for a townie or visitor to England just before they drive off into our rural byways. Divided neatly into 10 chapters, each section conveys a sense of the traditions and formation of the features of a typical english village. The Village green, the pub, the church and the big house are all here. I particularly enjoyed the section on the big house - the legacy of manor houses has been frequently undervalued and Wainwright makes us understand what they contributed and underlines the appeal of such series as Downton Abbey or Cranford.

Simplistic black and white woodcuts serve as illustrations - colour illustrations would have helped bring the text to life (my only quibble). This is more of a general guide than an in-depth examination, as is apparent from its size, but it does pack a lot of information into a small space.

[Debbie Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend kindly gave me a copy of this book for Christmas, knowing that I live in a classic English village which inspires my own writing (the Sophie Sayers Village Mysteries), and I very much enjoyed this chatty ramble through the evolution of the English village from ancient to present, punctuated by charming line-drawings of various places mentioned along the way in a style that reminded me of Joyce Lancaster Brisley's Milly-Molly-Mandy illustrations - very nostalgic.

While this book is enough for anyone who wants a quick overview of the social history of the village, Wainwright is clearly very well-informed on the subject and provides a vast and useful reading list for anyone who wants to find out more. I may well avail myself of it.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast, easy reading on various topics which form the picture of the quintessential English village - farming, houses, pubs and their brews, clergy, inhabitants, and more. As another reviewer says, pick it up if you're about to go off puttering in the countryside here!

[Cathy Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small, but very entertaining book on the English countryside village. Loved every second of it!

[DocNora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful, delicious read...i started reading this on the spot and highlighted so many villages, churches and country houses to visit as I was born passionate about rural England and it's precious villages. Fortunately the England I have known and have lived in has been within the bounds of church (I have a 13th century church right opposite my house) with the pub next door to it, with a 7 minute walk to work at the large local hospital. Astonishingly this home is surrounded by tall trees including Magnolia, several species of roses, clematis, wisteria & cherry and an enormous briar rose of sleeping beauty proportions; the branches of which have formed an impenetrable barrier securing the perimeter of the gardens. Foxes and a multigenerational family of hedgehogs and birds call this home. God bless this country and long may it last!

[M.A. Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this as a way to get a better understanding of village life as research for writing novels, and while it does have a lot of really great info in it, this isn't one of the better nonfiction books I've read. The style is more narrative, and it's quite engaging, but the author doesn't always differentiate about when things shifted and changed as he outlined the evolution of the village.

But overall, it's not a bad book to pick up if you're looking for info on this subject matter.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting little notes but rarely dwells on a topic or subject long enough to feel you have really understood it, to be honest its probably too big a subject to be covered in so small a book. On the plus side it is a fun enough intro to the subject. The final chapter can be totally ignored now as it is out of date and goes too far into the weeds of specific planning legislation.

[Jenny Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A journey through the history and traditions of English village life. This book portrays both the ups and the downs, citing numerous examples throughout. I do think that it is a subject that can stand up to a little humour but this book didn't deliver on that and was a little dry to read.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting with little gems hidden throughout. No depth in any one category, which is expected with a short book. Great addition to my library.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointingly dull I thought. Quite a nice, light style though. And I loved the design of the cover! 🤭

[Elvis2 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Incredibly dull and written in language of England 200 years ago. Do not bother.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent!!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a charming relaxation on aspects of the English village. One gets the strong impression that the English think they invented the village like the Swedes think they invented the coffee break, but walking up the road to that intersection in the village where the pub is across the street from the churchyard and the noticeboard has last month's council agenda with apologies from those who did not attend and I'm going to go trespassing on some country house's grounds to take pictures. This book just feels like all my holidays slipping in that weird British mud, climbing over kissing gates, and being menaced by cows.

I like how pubs are cozy and quiet, especially because I really hate bars. The chapter on pub history was fun. A lot of little fun facts. All the chapters are fun, because this book is fun. Enclosure was not fun but Wainright acknowledges the bad without getting into it. He wants to talk about the yews and the parish houses and the cottages and https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/co... this poem on a plinth in Waterbeach (not specifically, but it's a nice poem).

I like this book. It is soothing.

[Andrya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably interesting collation of facts about English Villages, their development, shift in focus, core elements and how politics and aristocracy have shaped them.
On the dry end of the scale, missing some opportunities to examine impact on people.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought on the Amazon daily Kindle deal at £1.19. Started reading and up to the standard of the author's contributions as a journalist on The Guardian. Bit LibDem-ish on rural class relations in the chapter on the 'big houses'.

[Louise Armstrong · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up around page 70 because my copy has teeny tiny print and yellow paper and it was not worth making my eyes hurt.

It contains plenty of information, but I didn't especially warm to the writer. There was nothing to make the endless facts and snippets stand out or be memorable.