Vanishing England. P. H. Ditchfield

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       P. H. Ditchfield

      Vanishing England

      Published by Good Press, 2019

       [email protected]

      EAN 4057664586056

Table of Contents

       CHAPTER I

       INTRODUCTION

       CHAPTER II

       THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ENGLAND

       CHAPTER III

       OLD WALLED TOWNS

       CHAPTER IV

       IN STREETS AND LANES

       CHAPTER V

       OLD CASTLES

       CHAPTER VI

       VANISHING OR VANISHED CHURCHES

       CHAPTER VII

       OLD MANSIONS

       CHAPTER VIII

       THE DESTRUCTION OF PREHISTORIC REMAINS

       CHAPTER IX

       CATHEDRAL CITIES AND ABBEY TOWNS

       CHAPTER X

       OLD INNS

       CHAPTER XI

       OLD MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS

       CHAPTER XII

       CROSSES

       CHAPTER XIII

       STOCKS, WHIPPING-POSTS, AND OLD-TIME PUNISHMENTS

       CHAPTER XIV

       OLD BRIDGES

       CHAPTER XV

       OLD HOSPITALS AND ALMSHOUSES

       CHAPTER XVI

       VANISHING FAIRS

       CHAPTER XVII

       THE DISAPPEARANCE OF OLD DOCUMENTS

       CHAPTER XVIII

       OLD CUSTOMS THAT ARE VANISHING

       CHAPTER XIX

       THE VANISHING OF ENGLISH SCENERY AND NATURAL BEAUTY

       CHAPTER XX

       CONCLUSION

       INDEX

CHAPTER I

       Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

       Table of Contents

      This book is intended not to raise fears but to record facts. We wish to describe with pen and pencil those features of England which are gradually disappearing, and to preserve the memory of them. It may be said that we have begun our quest too late; that so much has already vanished that it is hardly worth while to record what is left. Although much has gone, there is still, however, much remaining that is good, that reveals the artistic skill and taste of our forefathers, and recalls the wonders of old-time. It will be our endeavour to tell of the old country houses that Time has spared, the cottages that grace the village green, the stern grey walls that still guard some few of our towns, the old moot halls and public buildings. We shall see the old-time farmers and rustics gathering together at fair and market, their games and sports and merry-makings, and whatever relics of old English life have been left for an artist and scribe of the twentieth century to record.

      Our age is an age of progress. Altiora peto is its motto. The spirit of progress is in the air, and lures its votaries on to higher flights. Sometimes they discover that they have been following a mere will-o'-the-wisp, that leads them into bog and quagmire whence no escape is possible. The England of a century, or even of half a century ago, has vanished, and we find ourselves in the midst of a busy, bustling world that knows no rest or peace. Inventions tread upon each other's heels in one long vast bewildering procession. We look back at the peaceful reign of the pack-horse, the rumbling wagon, the advent of the merry coaching days, the "Lightning" and the "Quicksilver," the chaining