The English Village: History and Traditions

Martin Wainwright

Oct 2011 · Michael O'Mara Books

About this ebook

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.

About the author

Martin Wainwright has been the Northern Editor of The Guardian for 16 years and broadcasts regularly on television and radio. Born in Leeds, the son of the Liberal MP Richard Wainwright, he co-wrote The Which? Guide to Yorkshire and the Peak District, and among his other books on northern or countryside topics are a biography of the English fellwalker and author Alfred Wainwright (no relation), True North: In Praise of England's Better Half, and a guide to the Coast to Coast Walk, as well as A Gleaming Landscape: A Hundred Years of The Guardian's Country Diary.