The Victorian Village

by David Souden

Offering a portrait of English village life a century and more ago, this book aims to capture the simplicity and charm of rural existence through the pictures and drawings of artists such as Helen Allingham, William Mulready and Richard Redgrave. The commentary and captions, which include extracts from the work of contemporary writers and poets, give background information and details about practices and pastimes that have today all but vanished. The rhythm and stability of traditional village life in the 19th century are portrayed through the respectable toils of the artisan, the aristocratic pretensions of the local gentry and the restless underworld of itinerant tinkers, gypsies and entertainers.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 1991

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

General Overview
A delightfully quaint and charming read, this work by David Souden, was exactly the sort I wanted for some light reading, and for research into the period it covers. Steep in the feel of it all, The Victorian Village, is a illustrated wonder.

Style
Delivered in a mix of prose and documentorial narrative, the writing by Mr Souden works well with the overall feel of the piece. That of tranquility, harkening back to a simpler time, but one at the centre of dramatic changes of ways in life.

The pictures used throughout also bring the reader firmly into what is covered. This is undoubtably a far too shallow overview for scholars of the period. It is a short book, and only skims the top of all aspects of the world it protrays. However, Mr Souden's writing is designed for such a text. It is a joy for the layman, but one of be glanced over by the academic.

Substance
Covering all aspects of village life, their economies, and how they developed over the period, this book was the perfect night time read for myself. Covering the wavetops of each element, I could get through a chapter a night, and rest peacefully afterwards.

Final Thoughts
For an uneducated man of the era such as myself, this was a great introduction to the period. I will by on the hunt for similar books covering different periods, and would gladly take recommendations.

[Michael Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Victoria came to the throne in 1837, two-thirds of England’s population lived in the countryside, mostly in small villages and hamlets. At the time of her death in 1901, more than three-quarters of her people lived in towns and cities. That’s a lot of change for one lifetime. It also means that a large proportion of town-dwellers at the turn of the 20th century had memories of growing up in the country, or of visiting older family members who had. The Victorians often were sentimental but they were also practical and a number of them kept diaries or wrote down their memories of the passing of country life. The author, a professional writer known for his television presentations on this and related subjects, has mined those contemporary works and added to them descriptions from the novels of Thomas Hardy, and has produced a beautifully conceived and highly informative pictorial study of a vanished world. There are six sections (“Village Life,” “Cottage Life,” “Crafts and Trades,” and so on) subdivided into more focused topics, including the parish church, working the land, the village inn, markets and fairs, and others, with every page displaying 19th century realistic paintings and drawings. (There’s not a photograph anywhere, which entirely suits the flavor of the book.) The factual information -- and there’s a great deal of it, including many quotations from the sources noted above -- is presented in almost a conversational style, which makes this a nice book to spend an afternoon with.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whimsical!