A Brief History of the Countryside in 100 Objects: The acclaimed history of Britain’s unique rural past, from prehistory to the present day

by Sally Coulthard

The untold story of rural Britain revealed through its artefacts

For most of human history, we were rural folk. Our daily lives were bound up with working the land, living within the rhythm of the seasons. We poured our energies into growing food, tending to animals and watching the weather. Family, friends and neighbours were often one and the same. Life revolved around the village and its key spaces and places – the church, the green, the school and the marketplace.

And yet rural life is oddly invisible our historical records. The daily routine of the peasant, the farmer or the craftsperson could never compete with the glamour of city life, war and royal drama. Lives went unrecorded, stories untold.

There is, though, one way in which we can learn about our rural past. The things we have left behind provide a connection that no document can match; physical artefacts are touchstones that breathe life into its history. From farming tools to children’s toys, domestic objects and strange curios, the everyday items of the past reveal fascinating insights into an often-forgotten way of life. Birth, death, celebration, work, crime, play, medicine, beliefs, diet and our relationship with nature can all be read from these remnants of our past.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, British Literature

336 pages, Paperback

Published May 27, 2025

About the author

After studying Archaeology & Anthropology at Oxford University, best-selling author and designer Sally Coulthard has spent the last twenty years designing, making and writing about homes, craft and outdoor spaces. She sees no boundary between the rules that govern good interior design and those which are needed to craft a spectacular studio or glorious garden.

Keen to make good design accessible, she’s written over twenty books about restoring houses, designing interiors and outdoor living. From garden styles to craftsmanship, creating workspaces to building sheds, Sally’s books inspire, encourage and equip readers to take on projects of their own.

Sally is a passionate advocate of rural living and regularly writes about nature and her experiences of smallholding deep in North Yorkshire countryside, including her ‘Good Life in Country’ column for Country Living magazine.

Reviews

[Lisa - OwlBeSatReading · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The countryside is, and always will be, a product of the generations of people who came before us and the decisions they made about the best use of the rural landscape”.

This book has taken me a month to finish, as I’ve picked it up in between fiction. It has been a hugely enjoyable, fascinating and educational read. My only complaint is I wish the illustrations in this paperback edition were photographs of the 100 objects instead of black and white sketches. Maybe the hardback edition has colour photos, I’m not sure. Other than that minuscule grumble, this book was great! 4.5 stars rounded up.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sally Coulthard’s 'A Brief History of the Countryside in 100 Objects' is just that. It’s not a detailed, nor definitive, description of the history of the natural landscape; rather it is, as Coulthard herself says, ‘a history of the countryside, told through the filter of someone fascinated by the courage, charm and occasional callousness of my rural ancestors’. (p. 3.) Within its pages is a wonderful collection of snippets of information and surprising facts woven into a narrative that spans over twelve thousand years, all tied together by Coulthard’s easy, flowing style, heightened to perfection with her trademark gentle humour and wordplay.

The way the history is told is not just fashionable, but clever. Material history – using objects as the starting point to describe a history of, for example, a place, a trade, or an idea – is perfectly suited not just to Coulthard’s style, but also to the subject. Historians have occasionally tried the longue durée approach, with varying degrees of success. But by its very nature, this sort of history becomes impersonal, scientific, distant. Instead, here we have a subject that could fill volumes and still not be complete, wrapped up in a neat parcel of just over 300 pages that still manages to convey all the main themes: change, continuity, progress, damage and adaptability. Each short chapter alights on one particular object, beautifully illustrated, that represents a certain point or change – a headdress, a dried cat, a potato rake, even a road sign – and through that blossoms into a story that is both interesting and significant.


As is often the case with Coulthard’s writing, there is a deeper point to be made. Beneath the canopy of fascinating titbits – the nineteenth-century hatred of sparrows, or the improbability of growing trees that produce tasty apples from an apple seed, for example – there is the shaded understorey that tells a more worrying tale. The countryside has come under some significant attacks recently. Aside from the massive and costly construction projects that blot the landscape, destroy natural habitats, and wreck communities, or the literal streams of waste that befoul our waterways, choking the life out of them in the process, there have also been complaints that its people are backward, insular, and hold dearly to any number of ‘-isms’. Sally Coulthard’s book is the corrective. It is a magnificent defence of what even now represents a significant majority – albeit a shrinking one – of the British landscape. Rejoicing in its quirks, revelling in its occupants – be they human, animal, or vegetable – while never wearing the rose-tinted spectacles that give the lie to the more absurd panegyrics, it paints the countryside in all its muddied glory. But more than that, it is a call to arms: to look after the landscape, its occupants – in whatever form – and its institutions. In reminding readers about the past and present of the countryside, Coulthard invites them also to look forward, to wonder what the future – if there is one – might be for the countryside.


In a world that seems to be getting more dangerous by the day, there is a selfish reason, too, for looking after our countryside: when all else fails, how can we perform the simple task of feeding ourselves. How can we get everything we need from land exhausted by the intensive farming of a few, limited crops? How can we find the skills necessary even to make the most of our own personal, ever-decreasing plots of land? The countryside is not just the space between towns and cities. It is its own living, breathing, varied, difficult yet beautiful entity. Sally Coulthard knows this, as do many of the people who make rural Britain their home – as well as those who are naturally drawn to 'A Brief History of the Countryside'. The depressing problem is that she might be preaching to the choir. However, if even just a few others pick it up, they can’t fail to witness, to understand for themselves, the importance and majesty of the natural landscape and all that fill it. Coulthard’s mission is a challenging one. But if anyone can do it, she can.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so interesting, but mostly just so wholesome and comforting to listen to (despite being very honest about the brutality of life in the countryside over the years)

[Loïne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In stimulating our curiosity about intriguing objects and remnants of past life, Coulthard enlightens our understanding about the enormous challenges now faced by our countrysides. It’s achieved through a series of vignettes that fascinate by enabling us to walk through the daily lives of our ancestors. While the immediate focus of the objects and countryside is Britain, the origins and stories of the objects is put in a broader world context with the patterns of profit-oriented trade and development, and their consequences for our countrysides and wildlife, being worldwide. Coulthard effectively wraps up this very readable book with an outline of a much better way forward - by working WITH nature, rather than against it. A gem of a book, which would make a lovely gift.

[kociefutro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how much I will remember from this long term, but this was really pleasant and genuinely interesting to listen to on walks 🥰

[Elsa Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book. The objects are well chosen to chart the long history. Like the hand-drawn pictures as opposed to photographs. Would have liked the pictures to be at the front of the chapter below the title rather than at the end. Still, doesn’t detract from the content.

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Goodreads abject failure, this edition is listed as a paperback audiobook. The photograph shows the hardback edition, the one that I read, which is not listed by Goodreads.
I’m a little nervous of the fad for books listing a hundred of this or that, but this was a birthday gift from a son who knows that the history of the countryside, and everything in it, has been a long time obsession of mine.
Although some of the 3 page entries are a little contrived, the book is a pleasure to read and full of interesting information. It would have been nice to see a smidgeon of politics in there…a farmworkers eviction notice or union card for instance, and there were too many early entries from abroad, despite our fields being littered with prehistoric flint tools, but the environmentalism that becomes evident in the later entries is most welcome!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part , I really enjoyed those book and learned more than I expected. I do have a few quibbles-the lack of organization. I would have preferred a straight chronological order rather than the almost hit or miss timeliness used. And a few maps would have been very helpful.
I also would have preferred photographs of the objects rather than the line drawings.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good! Not academic, not stuffy, just lots of fascinating information about the history of the countryside.

The book is written in a completely accessible style and well-written at that.

The cover that is shown here isn't the one I was reading. A quirk of Goodreads is that it may display the proper cover in one place but not another.

Recommended if you find English social and countryside history worth a read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scrapes a four. For once a book like this is not heavily weighted to more recent times. Object 42 is dated around 1068. However it’s also not that in depth. If you know a reasonable amount of general history then like me you might find the book is repeating stuff you know. Also the author’s links to the next object got boring fast.

[Graeme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best non-fiction I’ve read for ages. The title is a bit odd it’s not all about countryside objects all sorts of things. Each object is covered in 5-6 minutes. I learnt a great deal. It goes from several thousand years because to the modern day. Excellent!

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very easy read, the short chapters helped to devour the book. Fascinating book chronicling the history of the British countryside through 100 objects, often the objects contribute little to the chapter rather the surrounding historical context which the objects are explored. Well worth a read.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sally Coulthard writes wonderfully informative and bitesized bits of history that I just want to consume.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read !

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our 74th retirement Read About. Very interesting book. Every essay was about the importance of each item. Telling the history of the item and the history of Great Britain, I learned a lot!

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting introduction to British history, from a particular viewpoint.

[John Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book, some fantastic snippets of information, and a real appreciation of how we have hot to this stage with our countryside.