The English Village: culture, economy and society in the long run

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The English village has existed for a millennium. In this research I will bring material collected through a lifetime of learning, together with new research. to deliver an ambitious project designed to make a critical contribution to our understanding of rural society through an approach which has not previously been attempted. I will research and write two academic articles and the first substantial modern monograph covering the long-run history of the English village, taking into account its cultural, economic and social development across time. I will do so by using a range of resources which have not in the past been available simultaneously, together with my own knowledge and experience from thirty years of research in rural society, including detailed work over the past five years while I have been Director of the Victoria County History.The English village emerged in the late Saxon period when we can first identify organic communities. Over time we can distinguish the manor, the parish, the township, and other localised identities including (particularly in northern England) palatinates, regalities, franchises and liberties. The research is designed to disentangle these different strands in such a way as to establish a model of the English village over time, which will distinguish village types in terms of size and structures, economic activities, social structures, and cultural affinities, including the role of the parish church. I shall describe and at the same time assess changes in the structure of the village through time, distinguishing between northern, midland and southern parishes and manors, and examining, for example, the impact of the decline of the manor, the importance of the parish in both ecclesiastical and civil matters, and in more recent times the impact on the village of industrialisation and urbanization, the role of government, and the changing focus of the village since the Second World War. I shall look to draw contrasts and comparisons in each period, to assess the differences between villages across the country as a consequence of their economic, social and cultural experiences, and then relate these differences to issues such as farming practice, the role of the Church, the impact of the manor, lordship (both resident and non-resident), and the importance of migration for the growth or decline of the village. Where possible, comparisons will be drawn with experiences elsewhere in Britain and Europe, taking into account particularly the role of the parish as a European institution, the impact of church (perhaps most notably in Ireland), and the differing experiences of European states in regard to industry and urbanisation, and how this has related to different social and cultural experiences. Overall, the key issue is to understand the economy, society and culture of the English village through time, to see how it developed as a result of internal and external pressures, and to show how the village of today has emerged as a result of changes and pressures over time.The Fellowship will enable me to complet a major longitudinal study of the English village over the past millennium, which will distinguish its form and structure in different periods and in different parts of the country, and provide a detailed overview that will provide both the scholar and the interested reader with an assessment of rural society which draws on a range of sources, both primary and secondary, to inform the discussion.