Most Beautiful Villages of England

by James Bentley, Hugh Palmer

Villages are the very embodiment of Englishness. The village inn and the local farm, great houses, humble cottages and beautiful country gardens speak of a way of life that has developed peacefully since Anglo-Saxon times. A few days spent in England's idyllic villages offers urban dwellers and foreign visitors a revitalizing glimpse of a more tranquil existence, full of history, legend, literature and artistic heritage. The beauty and diversity of the English village are recorded in this book in absorbing commentary and magnificent photography by James Bentley and Hugh Palmer.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Architecture, British Literature, Photography, History

208 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 1999

About the author

Travel writer James Bentley was born (1937-2000) in Bolton, Lancashire, England, UK.

Bentley had a varied career as teacher, academic, historian and Anglican clergyman. He was Vicar of Oldham, Lancashire, Conduct and Senior Chaplain at Eton College, Windsor, and Maurice Reckitt Research Fellow in Christian Social Thought at the University of Sussex.

He died on December 26, 2000 in Saumur, France

Reviews

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading through and looking at all the wonderful photographs in this gorgeous book. I was almost transported to some of these wonderful English villages. A perfect companion for anyone who loves the English countryside and the beautiful and quaint houses, pubs and inns of it's many villages.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good book full of photographs. this one was well worth the pickup and look through. the villages looked as one pictures when reading Miss Read or D. E. Stevenson. I hope to go see for myself one day, though I'm sure many changes have occurred.

[Jonny Parshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reading was a tough steak to chew, but the photographs by Palmer are easily worth the look-see. Unfortunately, the author/editor(s) overlooked a few inconsistencies:
1. Many buildings are represented as being of later centuries, such as 18th or 19th, but can clearly be seen connected to earlier buildings (14th, 15th etc). Just because a building has an 18th century facade, it does NOT mean it is a work of that century. Many times the timber frames are much older. Had the author or photographer simply knocked and interviewed the homeowner(s), they would've discovered a truth that was not present in this publication.
2. When a building's upper storey is of greater space than the lower storey, the bit that protrudes is called a jetty, not an overhang. Overhang is a term fairly exclusive to American architecture that usually refers to roofs or awnings.

Other than these minor discrepancies, this book was totally worth the read. It was an optimistic departure to last book I read on the subject (which had more of an analytic, pessimistic tone), even if The Most Beautiful is more of the coffee-table travel fare.

[DocNora · Rating 4 out of 5]

The English village is a thing very near and dear to my heart..So when i'm not visiting them, I'm looking for them or reading about them..This had the potential to be so much more! Lots of villages left out! Notable omissions being Chipping Camden, Chipping Norton (Oxfordshire) Broadway, Morton in the Marsh, Bourton on the water, Bibury, Richmond (?is it a village)etc etc...
Hemingford Grey: the Manor was the home of beloved author Lucy M Boston, who wrote the hauntingly beautiful Green Knowe series, which wasn't mentioned...
I learned about a few villages I hadn't encountered before. Also the photos were lovely, I just wish there had been more for each village!

[R.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I get that by shooting most of the photos in the winter we literally see more of the architecture of the villages included here, but that means that if you're expecting the green, lush cover image of this book to represent its contents, you may be disappointed. Also, gotta say, there were a good deal of truly boring buildings spotlighted, and perhaps a few too many shots of church interiors. Despite the author's obvious knowledge of and passion for the subject, I just wasn't convinced that these were actually the most beautiful villages of England.

[Shannon Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is churchy. I mean I’m not naive I know that villages are centered on their church but every village church was talked about. It got old. I bought this book on Amazon and it’s probably a good thing because if I had flipped through it at a bookstore I probably wouldn’t have bought it. The book is ok. But I would have liked to see more pretty pictures of homes and of the village. Not so much of the churches.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't travel to England right now but at least I can drool over these pretty villages. Very nice photos.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was happy to see that some of the places I have been on my one and only trip to England are in this book.

[Deb]

Saw this at a bookstore in Ashland and thought it would be a lovely way to prep for a trip to England!