The grand country estates and stately homes of England are
forever showing up in romance novels while little is said about
the cottage lives of the average family.
Nineteenth century novelists Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy,
the Bronts and Jane Austen made sharp social comments by
contrasting the more humble homes to vast estates. They
understood that the way the British viewed society could be
gauged by the changing conditions of cottage life. This tenet
holds true for all British history, not just the nineteenth
century.
The Medieval cottage was most often one story containing a
single room which served as kitchen, bedroom and workroom. The
man of the cottage, the bread winner, was given preference in
sleeping arrangements. When he slept, unruly children were kept
away and domestic work ceased. The cottages were not the quaint
sort most often associated with rural England today, but rather
crude dwellings. Some had a bay leading from the living area
directly into the barn or animal pens.
By the Tudor period, cottages had become somewhat more
comfortable as standards of living rose throughout England. A new
prosperity brought about a great deal of building. The
government, forever plagued with the welfare of vagrants,
foreigners and those unable to work, kept a strict eye upon the
number of new dwellings built at this time. In order to lighten
the governments' burden, a tax, the amount of which was decided
by the local Justice of the Peace, was levied against each
cottager, "to such weekly charge as they and every of them shall
weekly towards the relief of the said poor people." Every
resident was expected to pay his fair share. Therefore, no person
without visible means of support and the ability to pay his taxes
was allowed to build a new cottage, nor occupy any pre-existing
structure. This resulted in an Act being passed "against the
erecting and maintaining of cottages," in 1589.
Whereas the nobility regularly imported building materials
from other parts of England and the world for their homes, the
typical average home was built with materials that were abundant
and cheap in each region, such as local stone, wattle and daub,
mud or peat. Manor homes boasted rooms designed to serve a
specific function, such as the kitchen, buttery, dovecote and
laundry. On very large estates, these areas were often housed in
separate buildings away from the main house. Yet the majority of
people did not even have the luxury of a well or running stream
at which to draw their water, having instead to walk long
distances to the village pump or other source.
But amenities did steadily improve and innovations in cottage
architecture continued to evolve with the fireplace being moved
from the center of the room to one of the walls. The concept of
privacy, alas, was still unheard of. As living conditions, work
opportunities and road travel improved, the expectations and
necessities of daily life for the average family also evolved.
The amount and quality of furnishings to be found within the
typical cottage increased and by the late 18th and early 19th
centuries many, but not all, of the great land owners had become
mindful of the cottagers who were dependent upon their largess.
Between 1838 and 1842, the sixth Duke of Devonshire removed the
entire town of Edensor, Derbyshire, as it was located too close
to his Chatsworth House.
Charity remained a byword in most villages as late as the
Victorian period and, if land owners were becoming more
"politically aware" of the needs of the villages, this largess
could at times take inadequate, not to mention inappropriate,
forms. Lord Harrowby built a billiards room for villagers in
Staffordshire and also erected a gymnasium in a village club on
his estate in Sandon. To learn more about various aspects of
cottage and rural life through the centuries, consult LIFE IN THE
ENGLISH COUNTRY COTTAGE by Adrian Tinniswood.
Tinniswood includes architectural changes, the emergence of a
middle class, the Poor Laws and the ever changing role of the
Lord of the Manor. Illustrations, photos and a fresh bibliography
round out this invaluable book. For fictional rural life, you
would do well to read any of Dora St James' books. St James
writes as Miss Read and evokes village life early in this century
with two popular series set in Thrush Green and Fairacre. By no
means a portrait of poverty or suffering, these books evoke a
simpler, more community-oriented way of life.
Recommended Title:
|
Site Map
