How To Read A Village

Product Description

What constitutes a village? What is the significance of the maypole? What was the true purpose of a village green? What is a `moot hall`? What is the origin of lich-gates? What was the real role of a yeoman? How come whole villages have disappeared over the centuries? This book reveals the answers & provides all the tools a village detective will need. Village history, points out the author, is embedded in the village landscape. Village stories can, therefore, be `read`: this book will reveal how. Arranging the book thematically, chapters cover ancient villages; the village green (including maypoles, pubs & ponds); the village church; cottages & farmsteads; village architecture (including lock-ups & market crosses); village casualties; fishing villages; clachans & fermtouns; &, villages of the modern era. Drawing on dozens of real villages as examples, the author, an expert on the landscape, matches up popular images & perceptions with the realities of old village life & history. Illustrating his theories with photographs, maps & drawings, he shows how amateur enthusiasts can pursue local village history with fascinating results. Covering the whole of Britain, he also points out key regional differences
- for example, why villages in Scotland follow a different pattern to villages in Engl&. This is a fascinating book that will delight lovers of local history everywhere.