Description
Book SynopsisThe romantic imagery of village England and the prominence that this commands in English cultural identity is well known. Yet just how accurate is this notion of the rural idyll in which the organic nature of village life was gradually undermined, and destroyed, by social and economic factors? Trevor Wild''s text explores the evolution of village England from the earliest times to the present. Drawing upon both contemporary accounts and scholarship, he provides an engaging and revealing account of the major transformations affecting the English village. Of particular interest is the book''s coverage of the more recent past, with the whittling away of the great estates, the appearance of such institutions as the village hall, and the development of alternative systems of power such as the councils.
Table of ContentsList of Figures – vii List of Plates – vii Preface and Acknowledgements – xi Introduction – xv
One Origins, Organic Quality and Geographical Context – 1
Two The First Transformation: Village England and the Parliamentary Enclosures – 22
Three Villages of Poverty and Rioting: Rural England in the Bleak Age – 45
Four High Farming and the ‘Ordered’ Rural Society – 70
Five Villages in Decay: Rural England in the Agricultural Depression – 87
Six Village England in the Inter-War Years – 114
Seven The Second Transformation: Village England in the Post-War Era – 149 Epilogue – 176 Notes – 179 Bibliography – 190 Index – 197
