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The English Village: History and Traditions
 
 
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The English Village: History and Traditions [Kindle Edition]

Martin Wainwright (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews) |
Digital List Price: £5.99 What's this?
Print List Price: £9.99
Kindle Price: £4.79 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
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Product Description

Product Description

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 (sidd: valley, in: belonging to, ton: farmland). Filled with facts, figures, customs and lore, there is a wealth of fascinating information to be discovered in this charming book.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By elsie purdon TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
I live in a village so this book should have been right up my street or country lane. I have read and reread parts of the book trying to suck up the dry dusty facts and turn them into something I can recognise and enjoy; a living place that people dwell in. In this book It just doesn't happen. There are plenty of interesting little details and facts about villages, but they don't convey the sense of a living place, past or present. In fact I think this book might be more relevant in the future when all villages are sucked dry as they become places reserved for holiday homes or second homes!

This book informs us on the history, vaguely, of the English Village. How it changed by the Norman Conquest and again by the Enclosures Act. Villages are believed to have begun in the 4th century AD founded by the Anglo-Saxons who settled in Britain. This is when we can see the pattern of church, manor house, mill and homes. Before then it was not known for certain how we lived, though during Roman times it would have been a case of little homes growing around the large and grand main Villa.
I did not agree with the author's assertion that the Romans occupied Britain along the realpolitik lines of "don't cause us any trouble and we will protect you and keep order." I am thinking of Queen Boudica's tribe having to fight the Romans who were attempting and succeeding in taking away her husband's land and wealth upon his death. My point here is that the history is far more complex than this book suggests.
Again when the author is writing about Yew Trees and Churchyards, he states that they are grown in church yards to prevent the village livestock poisoning themselves on the berries and leaves. Yet it is well known that churches were often placed alongside established yew trees which were considered a sacred tree in Celtic times. A bit chicken and egg. My money is on the trees coming first.

Overall I found the writing rambling around the subject in ways that left me liking little nuggets of information but then feeling confused and wanting to stop reading.

Because the author lives and works "up north" he has written the book with a heavy bias of northern England. Does that matter? Well yes when you live in the south.
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By downkiddie VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
This attractive little book is a beauitfully written ode to village life. I read it cover to cover on a rainy December afternoon and it made me yearn for summer days exploring hidden corners of our green and pleasant land.

It's a book to read as a whole rather than a reference book to dip in and out of it since the author refers back to earlier mentions and past chapters. It's divided into chapters on subjects close to village life such as the church, the manor house, farming and of course the pub. It brings us from the pre-Roman era right up to date, with mentions of research into dark matter down village mines and, inevitably, Downton Abbey.

The enchanting text throws up many interesting nuggets of information. For example, the origins of the name for morris dancing, what the surname "Baxter" means and lots more. While lamenting losses the author celebrates the great, and whilst remembering past suffering in villages he points out the warmth and generosity of forgotten people of the past.

Coming from Leeds, the book has a bit of a Yorkshire bias, which is no bad thing at all. Many of the author's examples and anecdotes hail from Yorkshire, but there are many from across England as well as Wales and Scotland. The book is cloth bound and features woodcut-style illustrations throughout, with a timeless charm on its dustjacket.

An attractivly presented little book, more than just a pretty gift.
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Lightweight and dull 27 Dec 2011
By Donald Lush VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
It's hard to believe a book so short and light can also manage to be so dull and tiresome.

The tone is flat and as I read I kept being put in mind of a bored schoolmaster attempting, without enthusiasm, to fill his charges with knowledge that neither he nor they cared much about.

The subject, brilliantly treated by Hoskins in his "The Making of the English Landscape", is here reduced to a cosy travelogue of half hearted clichés and endless recitation of facts. The English village deserves much better.

On the plus side, both the cover and illustrations outclass the text by some distance, promising intrigue and delight that the text does not deliver.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dull and wordy
For such a small book, it packs in a lot of detail. The problem is after the first few pages I just didn't care any more. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ren
A surprisingly poorly written treasure trove
The English Village is a treasure trove of information that venerates the English village as a great Anglo-Saxon institution. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Max
curious notion that works
This should not work as a book, but does. The notion of a generic 'english village' as a construct is highly dubious, as each location is unique to it's own history and geographic... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. M. L. Cawood-campbell
Lovely little book
This is a wonderful book about the phenomenon of the English village. It points out that it is a phenomenon too - something that is pretty much unique to these Isles. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Nick C
Nostalgia aint like it used to be
The English Village - History and Traditions
Martin Wainwright

Villages - Those idyllic places where "townies" believe they will be at peace , second homes, back... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Dr. I. Cox
A delightful book
Most of us, especially those of us who are literary, have a cozy image of a typical English village in our minds. Read more
Published 5 months ago by M. K. Burton
Very interesting and frustrating in equal measure
This is a very interesting book, with lots of great facts and well laid out. Chapters are cleverly chosen and the coverage of the village is great. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Herbie Green
A good Christmas present, pleasant read
beautifully written vignettes of the English village and its social life; delightful as a Sunday afternoon read in front of the fire or in the garden, or perhaps last thing at... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Angus Jenkinson
An enjoyable and interesting little book
This book is billed as a guide to the history, traditions and features of the much loved English village. Read more
Published 5 months ago by josie82
for anyone with even a passing interest in village life
Although I'm not convinced that the English village really exists anymore, that didn't take away from a really delightful book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. H
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