Our English Towns And Villages
H. R. Wilton Hall
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51 chapters
OUR ENGLISH TOWNS AND VILLAGES
OUR ENGLISH TOWNS AND VILLAGES
OUR ENGLISH TOWNS AND VILLAGES BY H. R. WILTON HALL Library Curator, Hertfordshire County Museum; Sub-Librarian St. Alban's Cathedral, &c. Author of "Hertfordshire: a Reading-Book of the County", &c. LONDON BLACKIE & SON, Limited , 50 OLD BAILEY, E.C. GLASGOW AND DUBLIN 1906...
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PREFACE
PREFACE
Many things connected with the history of our towns and villages have to be passed over in an ordinary school history reader. In the following pages an attempt is made to call attention in simple language, very broadly and generally, to connecting-links with the past in our towns and villages. There are many relics and customs yet remaining in many places, which, with a little care and attention to local circumstances, may be made helpful in teaching history, so that it shall be something more t
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1. A little boy, who had been born in a log cabin in the backwoods of Canada, was taken by his father, when he was about eight years old, to the nearest settlement, for the first time in his life. The little fellow had never till then seen any other house than that in which he had been born, for the settlement was many miles away. "Father," he said, "what makes all the houses come together?" 2. Now that sounds a very strange and foolish question to ask; but it is by no means as foolish a questio
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CHAPTER II MEN WHO LIVED IN CAVES AND PITS
CHAPTER II MEN WHO LIVED IN CAVES AND PITS
1. Man is a very ancient creature. It is a curious fact that we have learned most of what we know about the earliest men from the rubbish which they have left behind them. Even nowadays, in this twentieth century, without knowing much about a boy personally, we can tell a good deal about his habits from the treasures he turns out of his pockets. Hard-hearted mothers and teachers call these treasures rubbish, but the contents of a lad's pockets are a pretty sure indication of the boy's tastes. 2.
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CHAPTER III THE PIT-DWELLERS
CHAPTER III THE PIT-DWELLERS
1. Other remains not so ancient as these oldest stone implements, but still very ancient, are found nearer the surface than the remains of the River-Drift Men. They are the remains of people who, like the Drift Men, knew nothing of metals, and used stone weapons and tools, but better made. They had learned to shape and finish their tools by rubbing, grinding, and polishing them, and were, evidently, a more advanced race of men than the Cave or Drift Men. 2. For the most part we have to go to som
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CHAPTER IV EARTHWORKS, MOUNDS, BARROWS, ETC.
CHAPTER IV EARTHWORKS, MOUNDS, BARROWS, ETC.
1. There are still remaining, in many parts of the country, curious mounds and stones. We can say very little about them here; but though learned men have discovered much, there is still a good deal to be explained concerning them. Old-world stories put most of these strange objects down to the work of witches, fairies, or giants; some ascribe them to the Romans, or to Oliver Cromwell; others even to the devil. But most of them really belong to this period of which we are speaking—the very early
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CHAPTER V IN ROMAN TIMES
CHAPTER V IN ROMAN TIMES
1. Here, then, at the time the Romans first came to Britain were tribes of Britons who had been established in the country for centuries, living their lives according to the customs of their forefathers, and more or less cultivating the land. The Romans invaded the country, and, in time, subdued the people. They remained masters here for nearly four hundred years, but they did not make such a permanent impression on this country as they did in some countries which they conquered—as on France and
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CHAPTER VI EARLY SAXON TIMES
CHAPTER VI EARLY SAXON TIMES
1. The conquest of Britain by the Saxons took a long time—considerably over one hundred and fifty years. A great many people are born, and live their lives, and die, in such a period of time as that. It was only little by little that the various tribes of Saxons got a footing in England. They were the stronger and fiercer race, and the Britons were gradually subdued or driven into the mountainous regions by them. 2. Those early tribes of Saxons, who came to Britain, brought with them their own s
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CHAPTER VII EARLY SAXON VILLAGES
CHAPTER VII EARLY SAXON VILLAGES
1. It is with the coming of the Saxons that the history of our towns and villages really begins. For, though there are not a few places which show some connection with Romans, Britons, and Pit-Dwellers, it is mainly from Saxon times that we can follow the history of the places in which we live, with any certainty. 2. When the Saxons came to Britain they brought their own ideas with them, of course. Nowadays, when English folk go to settle in a distant land, they take their English notions with t
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CHAPTER VIII ANGLO-SAXON TUNS AND VILLS
CHAPTER VIII ANGLO-SAXON TUNS AND VILLS
1. A good many Britons no doubt settled down with the Saxons as slaves, and that probably accounts for so many of the natural features of the country—the rivers and hills—keeping their old British names. The British villages must have had names, but those villages were apparently destroyed, and the slaves would be settled near the homesteads which their conquerors set up. 2. In fixing on a place for a "tun" the Saxons would choose a valley rather than a hill, usually near a running stream, or a
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CHAPTER IX TYTHINGS AND HUNDREDS—SHIRES
CHAPTER IX TYTHINGS AND HUNDREDS—SHIRES
1. Though the Saxons, as they settled down in England, formed "tuns", which at first had very little to do with one another, that state of things probably did not last a very long time. In fighting the Britons they had had to act together; and, for the sake of protection and help, these separate communities had to combine. Somewhat in this way ten families in a district would form a tything ; and the heads of the villages would, from time to time, meet together, to consult on various matters in
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CHAPTER X THE EARLY ENGLISH TOWN
CHAPTER X THE EARLY ENGLISH TOWN
1. At first, as we have seen, the Saxons were an agricultural people, and each village or tun produced all that it needed for its own support. But in peaceful times a tun might produce more than it needed; and, by and by, something like trade and exchange between one place and another would begin. There were many places, as for example London, which in Roman times had been great places for commerce, to which ships had come bringing various kinds of goods. In time, as the Saxons settled down, the
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CHAPTER XI IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES
CHAPTER XI IN EARLY CHRISTIAN TIMES
1. One great and important factor in the making of Saxon England was Christianity. The first Saxons who came were heathen, and they wiped out the British Christianity, where they settled, as completely as they wiped out Roman civilization. Towards the end of the sixth century Christian missionaries were at work in the north and in the south of what we now call England; and, from that time onwards, the Church played an important part in the making of the nation. 2. So, side by side with the devel
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CHAPTER XII MONASTERIES
CHAPTER XII MONASTERIES
1. The Saxons learned to respect the quiet simple lives of the early monks. They saw them toiling hard in their fields, bravely facing many difficulties and hardships, and turning the wilderness into a garden. At first each monk, from the abbot downwards, had to take his share in the toil, wherever it was, and the monastery, as well as the vill, had to produce all that it needed. 2. Men, who were not very good or very religious, began to respect the lives and works of the monks. We find thanes a
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CHAPTER XIII TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN THE TIME OF CNUT THE DANE
CHAPTER XIII TOWNS AND VILLAGES IN THE TIME OF CNUT THE DANE
1. Now let us see what an ordinary village was like in the time of King Cnut, when Saxon and Dane were living pretty comfortably together, side by side, under good government. 2. We find that each vill or tun had a lord , an eorl, or thane, who practically owned the place and everything in it, though he could not do entirely as he liked. There was the land which belonged to him, and which was in his own hands, or occupation, as we say; that was called his demesne . The rest of the land was also
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CHAPTER XIV CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES IN DANISH AND LATER SAXON TIMES
CHAPTER XIV CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES IN DANISH AND LATER SAXON TIMES
1. In speaking of our towns and villages we are obliged to make mention frequently of churches and monasteries. At the time when Cnut was king, each vill or tun had its church and its priest to minister in it. There were parts of the land, in the common fields and pasture, mixed up with the villeins' strips, set apart for the support of the services of the Church, the maintenance of the priest, and the care of the poor. In time various dues and customs were also paid to the priest for certain th
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CHAPTER XV LATER SAXON TIMES
CHAPTER XV LATER SAXON TIMES
1. Every old town and village has got its oldest house, of course. You will most likely have heard people trying to be funny about it, and saying they think it must have been built in the year One. There is, we may pretty safely say, no house now standing exactly as it was in the days of King Cnut and the later Saxon times. But even yet there are some buildings standing, and still in use, which have certain parts which were erected in those times. These buildings are mostly churches, and in vari
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CHAPTER XVI IN NORMAN TIMES
CHAPTER XVI IN NORMAN TIMES
1. When Duke William of Normandy became King of England, the power of the Crown was greater than it had ever been before. All the old folk-land had become king's land . Many knights had followed Duke William from Normandy into England, and expected to be provided for by their leader. The lands belonging to King Harold, and those of the Saxon eorls who had died fighting at Senlac, King William regarded as his own. These he granted to his followers, on condition that they acknowledged him as their
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CHAPTER XVII IN NORMAN TIMES (Continued)
CHAPTER XVII IN NORMAN TIMES (Continued)
1. The king, then, granted manors to his followers, and to such Saxon eorls and thanes as were willing to hold their lands on the same conditions as the Normans. If they objected, as from time to time a good many of them did, they had to go. 2. Now, though every manor had a lord, where the lord held many manors it was quite impossible for him to be living in the manor-house of each of them, and looking after his estate himself. He could, if he chose, let out some portions of these manors to a ma
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CHAPTER XVIII IN NORMAN TIMES: THE CHURCHES
CHAPTER XVIII IN NORMAN TIMES: THE CHURCHES
1. When we speak of Norman times we must bear in mind that they lasted for over 130 years—say from 1066 to 1200. That period covers a good many years, and consequently a good many changes took place. Now this period is marked by a particular style of architecture known as Norman or Twelfth Century. 2. With the coming of William the Conqueror to England began a great period of building in this country. There was what we may almost call a "great rage" for founding or establishing religious houses
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CHAPTER XIX CASTLES
CHAPTER XIX CASTLES
1. The passion for building castles in England had begun before the Norman Conquest; but during the Norman period a great many castles (about 1100, it is said) were built in various parts of the country. They were not all of the same size, strength, or importance. Some were royal castles, belonging to the king, who placed each one in charge of a constable or warden. These were necessary for the defence of the country. We should expect to find important castles, for instance, at such places as Ca
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CHAPTER XX CASTLES AND TOWNS
CHAPTER XX CASTLES AND TOWNS
1. However useful a castle might be in protecting the overlord's tenants and property, the sense of security was always a great temptation to quarrel with other lords. With strong kings, like William I and Henry I, the danger of disorder was not so great, as they knew how to keep their great barons in check. But in the time of King Stephen, during the long years of civil war, the barons were divided into two parties, and each castle became a centre of strife. 2. The baron in his castle had his m
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CHAPTER XXI IN NORMAN TIMES: THE MONASTERIES
CHAPTER XXI IN NORMAN TIMES: THE MONASTERIES
1. The hundred years after the Norman Conquest was a great period of building. It was a time for establishing or founding new religious houses . Something like 389 such houses were opened during this period, so that they played a very important part in the history of the times. The Normans were not very much interested in the English religious houses which they found already established here. In fact, a good many of them, since the times of the Danish invasion, 200 years before, had got into ver
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CHAPTER XXII EARLY HOUSES
CHAPTER XXII EARLY HOUSES
1. When we go from a big modern manufacturing town into an old town or village, we cannot help noticing the old buildings, the ancient churches, the old town-hall, the alms-houses, and the old houses with their plastered fronts, tiled roofs, and huge chimney-stacks. 2. As years go by, the number of these old houses gets less and less. In the course of time many of the smaller ones especially, which have been neglected and allowed to fall into bad repair, become dangerous to live in. The sanitary
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CHAPTER XXIII EARLY HOUSES (Continued)
CHAPTER XXIII EARLY HOUSES (Continued)
1. For many centuries the houses of the villeins and cottiers did not alter very much in their general plan. You will remember that in those old pit-dwellings the hearth and its fire was the centre of the home. The room, or space round the fire, gradually became larger, especially in the houses of the thanes and eorls, till we get the hall, with the hearth in the middle, and the hole in the roof to let out the smoke. 2. All through the later Saxon and Danish times, and in the Norman period, the
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CHAPTER XXIV EARLY TOWN HOUSES
CHAPTER XXIV EARLY TOWN HOUSES
1. Houses in towns have been more frequently rebuilt and altered in various ways than those in the villages. The chief material used in building was wood, as it was in the villages, and one of the great dangers in the Middle Ages was that of fire. In the towns this danger was greater than in the villages, and fires happened more frequently. 2. The leading men in a town had more money to spend, and the increase of business, or a desire for change, led them to improve their houses. It was easier f
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CHAPTER XXV LIFE IN THE TOWNS OF THE MIDDLE AGES
CHAPTER XXV LIFE IN THE TOWNS OF THE MIDDLE AGES
1. Disease was one of the great dangers always lurking in a town. Plague of some kind or other was never very far away, and it frequently made its presence felt. People had not realized the sinfulness of dirt. 2. The best-drained buildings were the monasteries and colleges. Near the ruins of every big monastery, from time to time, underground passages have been discovered, many of them big enough for a man to walk along upright, and leading nobody knows where. When these were found, people shook
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CHAPTER XXVI THE GROWING POWER OF THE TOWNS
CHAPTER XXVI THE GROWING POWER OF THE TOWNS
1. Back in early Saxon times we find that the inhabitants of a town were banded together to keep the peace, thus forming a society pledged to each other—the Peace or Frith Guild. It lost nearly all its real power in later Saxon and Norman times. But it did not actually die out, and it appears that from this Frith Guild what we now understand by a corporation took its rise. The guild was a great power in some of the Saxon towns; only those belonging to it could trade in the town, and its members
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CHAPTER XXVII THE VILLAGES, MANORS, PARISHES, AND PARKS
CHAPTER XXVII THE VILLAGES, MANORS, PARISHES, AND PARKS
1. We have seen that in Norman times the whole country was, so to speak, the king's. There were the great lords who held "fiefs" or possessions directly from the king, which consisted of manors in various parts of the country—sometimes a number of manors pretty close together,—often with big stretches of unoccupied land between them, over which the king had full control. Out of these unused districts the king could, and did, often make new grants of land. 2. As years rolled on, the manors became
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CHAPTER XXVIII TRACES OF EARLY TIMES IN THE CHURCHES
CHAPTER XXVIII TRACES OF EARLY TIMES IN THE CHURCHES
1. In most villages the church is the chief old building in the place, and it is a good thing to be able to tell the time to which its different parts belong. It will help us to fix in our minds the different periods, or steps, in the history of our country. Never be ashamed to ask questions about an old building. It will be a very strange thing, indeed, if you cannot find, in every town and village, somebody who has a keen interest in old buildings, and who will delight in pointing them out to
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CHAPTER XXIX TRACES OF EARLY TIMES IN THE CHURCHES (Cont.)
CHAPTER XXIX TRACES OF EARLY TIMES IN THE CHURCHES (Cont.)
1. The fourteenth century is covered by the reigns of King Edward II, King Edward III, and King Richard II. The architecture became much more ornamental, and there is a good deal of fine stone-carving. Many beautiful window-heads and doorways belong to this period. A good many aisles were added to the old naves; many of the old Norman towers were rebuilt, and crowned with graceful spires; but the work is not all equally good. 2. There are a great many tombs in the churches in various parts of th
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CHAPTER XXX CLERKS
CHAPTER XXX CLERKS
1. Changes took place much more slowly in the Middle Ages than they do now. First of all, the population was very much smaller, and hundreds and hundreds of acres, now covered by big manufacturing towns, were then unoccupied land. 2. At the time of the Norman Conquest the whole population of England only numbered about 2,000,000 people; and in the time of King Henry VII it was only 4,000,000; so that, in the course of 400 years, the population had only doubled itself. 3. The people were not crow
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CHAPTER XXXI FAIRS
CHAPTER XXXI FAIRS
1. The word "Fair" calls up to our minds all sorts of wonderful sights and sounds—the stalls with their wonderful "fairings" and "goodies"; the shows and the shooting-galleries; the "flying horses" and the "conjurors"; the wonderful caravans and cocoa-nuts; the musical instruments of all sorts, from the mouth-organ and "squeaker" to the steam-organ of the roundabout. 2. Many such fairs are still held in every county, and they connect the present day very closely with the life of bygone days. It
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CHAPTER XXXII MARKETS
CHAPTER XXXII MARKETS
1. One of the pleasantest sights, to a Londoner at any rate, is the market-place of an old-fashioned country town on a market-day. In many such towns the weekly market is held, in the open air, in the same place where it has been held for centuries. Probably none of the houses round the market square are as old as the market, but the buildings, altered and rebuilt as they have been, take us back several centuries, and speak of days long gone by. 2. A good many towns have built covered markets. S
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CHAPTER XXXIII SCHOOLS
CHAPTER XXXIII SCHOOLS
1. The earliest schools in England were held in the monasteries , and were intended for boys and young men who were to be trained as priests, missionaries, or monks. There were famous schools at Canterbury, York, and Jarrow in the seventh and eighth centuries. In King Alfred's time, at the end of the ninth century, great attention was paid to the teaching of both girls and boys. Later still, in the tenth century, we find the teaching of the young attracting great attention. 2. Latin was taught i
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CHAPTER XXXIV UNIVERSITIES
CHAPTER XXXIV UNIVERSITIES
1. Now, just as the tide flows and ebbs, so in England did interest in learning rise and fall during the Middle Ages. Schools of all kinds had their good times and their bad times. Sometimes we find the thirst for learning being shown in one direction; then it almost died away for a time; revived again, and took another direction. 2. At first we see it going in the direction of making monks and priests and missionaries; then in making able men who could take part in the civil business of the man
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CHAPTER XXXV CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE BLACK DEATH
CHAPTER XXXV CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE BLACK DEATH
1. In the middle of the fourteenth century, in the reign of King Edward III, came the Black Death. It carried off half the population of the country at least, and all classes of society felt its effects. 2. We have said that in some of the old parish churches you can see, by some of the work done just after this time, that the builders were very much poorer than they had been, and had to finish off in a very plain fashion work begun on a grand scale. You must remember, too, that there were sever
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CHAPTER XXXVI WOOL
CHAPTER XXXVI WOOL
1. The two great industries of England in the Middle Ages were agriculture and wool-raising . The wool was the finest grown in Europe, and attracted hither merchants from the Continent. They travelled through England—in the Cotswold and Hampshire districts, for instance—and bought wool largely. But in pretty early days England began to manufacture cloth of various kinds; and that, too, became an important article of export. This manufacture was especially strong in the eastern and western parts
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CHAPTER XXXVII THE POOR
CHAPTER XXXVII THE POOR
1. From early Christian times in England to relieve the poor was looked upon as a Christian duty, and every church and religious house took its part in the work as a matter of course. You will remember that in early days there was not much moving about of people from one manor to another, so that it was not at first difficult to know the sick and the needy in each place, whether in town or country. Many religious houses or hospitals were founded for the purposes of relief. They were not on a lar
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CHAPTER XXXVIII CHANGES IN HOUSES AND HOUSE-BUILDING
CHAPTER XXXVIII CHANGES IN HOUSES AND HOUSE-BUILDING
1. In the time of King Edward III, that is, in the fourteenth century, there was a great change in the arrangement of castles and castle-building. We cannot say much about it here, it would take too long; but the changes made show that there was a desire to make the castle, not merely a strong defence against an enemy, but also a dwelling-place for the baron, his family, his servants and men-at-arms. Many buildings were added for comfort and convenience. In fact, a castle became a kind of little
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CHAPTER XXXIX THE RUINS OF THE MONASTERIES AND THE NEW BUILDINGS
CHAPTER XXXIX THE RUINS OF THE MONASTERIES AND THE NEW BUILDINGS
1. In early Tudor times our towns were much more picturesque than they are to-day. That was chiefly owing to the fact that there were in every town so many religious houses, colleges, and hospitals. These buildings all had grounds of their own in the town, some more, some less; but these open spaces and garden grounds, though they were not open to the public, all helped to make the town airy, and to give variety to the view. 2. The buildings themselves were all different, and many of them were h
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CHAPTER XL THE NEW HOUSES OF THE TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH
CHAPTER XL THE NEW HOUSES OF THE TIME OF QUEEN ELIZABETH
1. There were, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, in all parts of the country, hundreds of bare, gaunt ruins where once had been flourishing houses and centres of life and work. It may seem strange to us that the materials left were not sold and cleared away, and the sites made tidy. We must remember, however, that people could not build houses either in town or country as they chose. In Queen Elizabeth's reign the laws against building new houses were very strict indeed, so that there was not a ve
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CHAPTER XLI LARGER ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN HOUSES
CHAPTER XLI LARGER ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN HOUSES
1. We have said that the Tudor period was a time of building of big houses and mansions. Every county in England has some such houses to show. Many of them were built of stone , some partly of brick and stone . Their style shows that the English or old fashion of Gothic building was dying out. Italian ideas and Italian ornament were coming into favour. No doubt one reason why so much of the old work was ruthlessly destroyed was because it was out of fashion. It is astonishing, even in these days
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CHAPTER XLII CHURCHES AFTER THE REFORMATION
CHAPTER XLII CHURCHES AFTER THE REFORMATION
1. Not very long after the dissolution of the monasteries the churches had a very bad time to go through. It is perfectly marvellous how rapidly some people, who were in power, discovered that the valuable ornaments and fittings in them were so very wicked and superstitious, that the only thing to do was to seize them for the use of the king as his private property. No attempt was made to apply the money taken for the benefit of the parishes; it was shamefully and shamelessly squandered. The bui
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CHAPTER XLIII BUILDING AFTER THE RESTORATION: HOUSES
CHAPTER XLIII BUILDING AFTER THE RESTORATION: HOUSES
1. The most notable architect after the Great Fire of London was Sir Christopher Wren, and his master-piece is, of course, St. Paul's Cathedral. He designed, too, most of the city churches. The style was adopted in various parts of the country by various noblemen for building great houses. Brick was regarded as too mean a material for such very grand houses, and stone was used for facing them. 2. In the houses which Wren built brick was very largely used. He introduced rubbed bricks, and had the
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CHAPTER XLIV BUILDING AFTER THE RESTORATION: CHURCHES
CHAPTER XLIV BUILDING AFTER THE RESTORATION: CHURCHES
1. After the Reformation the churches, as we have said, were much neglected for a long time. They were used in a different way from what they had been in the Middle Ages—a great deal more was thought of preaching and hearing sermons. People grew to be very particular as to where they sat in church, and to have a seat in accordance with their dignity and importance. Pews became very important things. Churches were not heated in those days, though the services were very long, for sermons often las
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CHAPTER XLV SCHOOLS AFTER THE REFORMATION
CHAPTER XLV SCHOOLS AFTER THE REFORMATION
1. A little of the property which had belonged to the religious houses was saved and turned to useful purposes. Just a very few of the old alms-houses were allowed to continue their work, like St. Cross at Winchester, and some schools and colleges were founded. 2. There are some of those schools which bear the name of King Edward VI. But Edward VI was only a lad of sixteen years of age when he died, so that he had practically nothing to do with either the good or the evil which was done in his n
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CHAPTER XLVI APPRENTICES
CHAPTER XLVI APPRENTICES
1. From many of these old-fashioned schools boys and girls were apprenticed. Connected with old parishes there are still funds for so placing out boys and girls. 2. All through the Middle Ages the only way by which a man could become a craftsman was by being first of all an apprentice , and the rules by which a lad was bound to a master were very strict. Things did not alter much in this respect in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. An apprentice was always bound for seven yea
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CHAPTER XLVII PLAY
CHAPTER XLVII PLAY
1. In all the many centuries of our history there have been boys and girls; and, whatever has been going on in the world around them, they have found time to play. Many of their games go back so far in the history of man that their origin is forgotten. Yet there are games which children play now just as they did in the days of Queen Elizabeth; and those queer rhymes, which you know so well, and understand nothing about, have been repeated, some of them, since England began to be England. 2. Ther
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CHAPTER XLVIII GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER XLVIII GOVERNMENT
1. There was not much change for many centuries in the way in which towns and villages were governed. 2. The borough towns, which gained their charters back in the days of King John, or King Henry III, had them confirmed by various kings in later times; but the powers of the towns were not much altered. The corporation of a borough was usually made up of men chosen by the freemen; but if the freemen did not admit many persons to the freedom of the borough, the power of electing, in the course of
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CHAPTER XLIX SOME CHANGES
CHAPTER XLIX SOME CHANGES
1. There was not much alteration in the outward appearance of the villages and the "look" of the country round them for many centuries. Indeed even now many of the villages themselves are not greatly altered in their general arrangement. Down to the times of the Tudor kings the old land and manor customs had gone on since Saxon days, changing but very slowly. Many of the class which had been villeins in the Middle Ages had become yeomen; some had got lands of their own, and some land on the old
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