The Charm of the English Village

by P H Ditchfield

England is famous for its for their variety, for their picturesque charm, for their sublime blending into landscapes from which they have grown. This is the England astutely observed and chronicled in this classic volume. The Charm of the English Village is a picturesque and delightful book originally published in 1906. P.H. Ditchfield's commentary describes the cottages, gardens, churches, village greens, inns, shops, almshouses, schools, bridges, sundials, weathercocks which comprise the unique beauty of village England. Delicate and expressive drawings by Sydney Jones capture many of these features of village life. The 106 illustrations presented range from atmospheric landscape views to minutely observed sketches of rural curiosities, such as pigeon-houses and village stocks. They add the final touch to this nostalgic ramble through the rural hamlets of England.

Genres: British Literature, Nonfiction, Travel

Paperback

First published January 1, 1906

Reviews

[Jennifer Freitag · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Written by P.H. Ditchfield, illustrated by Syndey R. Jones.)

This is a book which started well and ended well, but in between, lacked about its purpose a certain graciousness which would have lent its author's import more beauty. I was fairly delighted to be taken briefly through many of the "charming" aspects of the typical English village, its varying architectures in churches, cottages, shops, farm-buildings, gardens, and roadways - all very briefly, for the author made sure to remark that he had not enough room (presumably in the work itself) to wax more eloquent about his beloved village - but periodically his narrative was marred by a brutal disapprobation against anything "modern," such as the train and the motor-car, which took away from the simplistic, rustic nature of the obscure English village. I challenge the author to prove that his isolated village, operating as it always has time out of mind, would not turn out to be mundane upon inspection, and lack some of the rosiness with which he paints it, eying it across the advent of modern improvements. While the English village in its green setting among England's poetically enduring hills is a lovely sight to behold, the author's hand might have been a little less heavy and his poetry a little less like that of the angrily blind idealist; then his narrative might have come across with more grace to the reader.

In the main, I took away an over-all sketch of a typical rural English village, and had to agree with the notion that architecture and its auxiliary aspects ought to reflect and be built in harmony with the natural surroundings, rather than in defiance of them. This harmony is a thing (so claims the author) which the builders of the English village were once able to achieve.

[DocNora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wholeheartedly agree with the author. Beautifully and nostalgically illustrated by Sidney Jones this book is a collector's item. With architectural Philistines on the rampage, I shudder to think how much of this is still left standing. But in my travels around the country as a member of the National trust I can confirm there are more than a few of these idyllic villages, of the very type inhabited by the beloved characters of D E Stevenson, Molly Clavering, Miss Read, E H Young, Mrs.Gaskell, Elizabeth Fair, Margery Sharp, Noel Streatfeild, Barbara Pym and even Jane Austen. This is a book likely to have found favor with Pg Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Evelyn Waugh, Cecil Beaton, Wordsworth himself, as anyone who has read any of his poetry would know.