Villages of England

by Roger Hunt, Richard Turpin

Across the expanse of England, picturesque, historic villages survive almost untouched by the unrelenting hand of progress. The vibrant photographs in these pages capture the essence of village England, from the somber drama of the Yorkshire Dales to the honey-toned limestone buildings of the Cotswolds. Cottages, churches, and pubs are steeped in history, revealing fascinating details about the lives and traditions of villagers as long ago as the eleventh-century Norman's. Chapters based on ways of life show how industrial villages and coastal villages formed, and how village greens had many duties as the center of public life. Villages of England captures the perfect vistas and telling historical details of each location, for a delightful tour of rarely-seen countryside.

Genres: Nonfiction

216 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 1999

About the author

Roger Hunt studied stage management at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then worked in film, television and photography. Loving history, and having been intrigued by building techniques and materials since childhood, he started writing about buildings. He is now an award winning writer and blogger specialising in sustainability, old houses, housebuilding and traditional and modern building materials and construction.

Roger is the co-author of New Design for Old Buildings from RIBA Publishing as well as the bestselling Old House Handbook and the companion volume Old House Eco Handbook, published in association with the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). He is the author of Rural Britain: Then and Now, a celebration of the British countryside featuring photographs from The Francis Frith Collection; Villages of England; and Hidden Depths, an archaeological exploration of Surrey's past. He also contributed a chapter to the Reader's Digest book The Story of Where you Live and wrote Hamptons International's millennium book The House 1000-2000.

He is editor of the SPAB Briefings, a series which offers a summary of recent work by the Society with cutting-edge information to help both owners and building professionals. Titles include Energy Efficiency in Old Buildings, Windows & Doors, Lime and Disaster & Recovery.

His work has appeared in numerous publications including The Daily Telegraph, Period Living, House & Garden, Grand Designs, Homebuilding & Renovating, Real Homes and Listed Heritage. He is sustainability correspondent for Show House, a title aimed at the housebuilding industry, and is a judge of the What House? Awards for new housing.

Roger Tweets @huntwriter and blogs at huntwriter.com. He also lectures regularly on retrofitting and repairing old buildings.

He was named Sustainable Property Journalist of the Year at the LSL Property Press Awards in both 2013 and 2014 and B2B Property Journalist of the Year at the Headline Property Awards 2008. His huntwriter.com blog won Best Blog and Best Eco Home Blog at the PrimeLocation.com Blog Awards 2011.

Interests include landscaping gardens and renovating houses. Although based in the UK, his latest renovation project is a 1900 house on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, USA.

Reviews

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

“My England”. This is how I felt when I reread this divine volume, and the pictures made me want to jump on the next plane to England! Villages of England has spectacular photographs by Richard Turpin and descriptive text by Roger Hunt. My book was published by Rizzoli of New York in 1999, I have been lucky enough to have visited quite a few of the villages portrayed in this book. Broadway in in The Cotswolds, Worcestershire I have visited and even stayed at The Lygon Arms maybe 4/5 times. Delightful! Also Upper and Lower Slaughter in The Cotswolds. Another lovely village is Amberley in W. Sussex. Oh, how I miss England!

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and packed with information as well. I really enjoyed it.

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially a picture (and picturesque) series of photos from the English countryside, including some interesting tidbits about each of the villages the book visits. A gorgeously photographed book.

[Mark McTague · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Anglophiles who have yet to visit the UK, this whets the appetite for travel.