Some things are hard to describe but clearly recognisable - the idea of a 'village' should be viewed this way. Common assumptions are that a village generates a special loyalty - for instance making a sharp division between natives and outsiders, also that it has a centre - a place where you can buy all the essentials you need, and lastly that it has to be surrounded by a cordon of countryside. Yet successful villages have almost always had changing populations and few suffer from inbreeding! Villages have also relied on outsiders to provide essentials, from cooking utensils, to transport, to temporary additional labour. Writers have often comfortably described 'villages' within cities.
Nonetheless the term 'village' is usually assumed to refer to a particular set of buildings and spaces, that might include a pub, church, village hall, school, green, etc. It is a picture most of us enjoy for various reasons - it offers a place we can dream to live in, or provide an idyllic setting for a story (particularly romance or crime!). Because this picture of a village has many uses, we sometimes forget that real villages rarely tick all the boxes.
It is perhaps better to consider that a village, like a town or a city, is a place that has a sense of itself, with sufficient common interests and needs among its people for them to want to work together. There are of course, the problems and arguments that working together brings. On a history website like this we should remember that the divide between villages and towns changes through time. Roughly speaking, nowadays we might agree that a population of 10,000 is as big as a 'village' can get. During the medieval period it may have been a population of just 500 or fewer.
So when we talk of a village, we are in the business of saying what are the common interests and needs among its people? In the end these are all services - when Chestfield first got its name services must have included things ranging from the radfaller's and the priest's work. In the 21st century they range from the Women's Institute (WI) to the Golf Club. We know that in the 1930s there was a battle for mains sewage and electricity. In the 1870s we can guess it was for keeping ownership of the land in local hands and possibly obtaining a railway station. The history of a village is the story of how these common needs and interests change as time moves on and how well they are met.
As we move through this website we'll look at what people choose for these much needed services. Then we'll see how their choices are shaped by the past. Finally, we'll notice how they continually try to anticipate their futures, most of which fail to materialise - even when the things they do to prepare for what they think is coming live on.
Your comments in this point of view are welcome - click here
Nonetheless the term 'village' is usually assumed to refer to a particular set of buildings and spaces, that might include a pub, church, village hall, school, green, etc. It is a picture most of us enjoy for various reasons - it offers a place we can dream to live in, or provide an idyllic setting for a story (particularly romance or crime!). Because this picture of a village has many uses, we sometimes forget that real villages rarely tick all the boxes.
It is perhaps better to consider that a village, like a town or a city, is a place that has a sense of itself, with sufficient common interests and needs among its people for them to want to work together. There are of course, the problems and arguments that working together brings. On a history website like this we should remember that the divide between villages and towns changes through time. Roughly speaking, nowadays we might agree that a population of 10,000 is as big as a 'village' can get. During the medieval period it may have been a population of just 500 or fewer.
So when we talk of a village, we are in the business of saying what are the common interests and needs among its people? In the end these are all services - when Chestfield first got its name services must have included things ranging from the radfaller's and the priest's work. In the 21st century they range from the Women's Institute (WI) to the Golf Club. We know that in the 1930s there was a battle for mains sewage and electricity. In the 1870s we can guess it was for keeping ownership of the land in local hands and possibly obtaining a railway station. The history of a village is the story of how these common needs and interests change as time moves on and how well they are met.
As we move through this website we'll look at what people choose for these much needed services. Then we'll see how their choices are shaped by the past. Finally, we'll notice how they continually try to anticipate their futures, most of which fail to materialise - even when the things they do to prepare for what they think is coming live on.
Your comments in this point of view are welcome - click here