The study of village plans

Brian K. Roberts

A description of a systematic methodology for the classification and analysis of village plans, using examples from County Durham. Roberts argues that classic village settlements appear in three main forms: linear settlements aligned on key streets or roads; settlements which are built around, or focussing upon, village greens or grazing areas; and agglomerated settlements which have a 'tangled' pattern and no obvious focus. He suggests that these general patterns are affected or shaped by factors such as the physical setting of the village and its immediate topography; the changes in population levels over the centuries, as the village shrinks or expands; and the presence or absence of lordly power. These influences are often combined. Villages are also made up of different morphological elements: buildings, the appearance of which is usually influenced by local geology; individual parcels of land - typically, in the study area, with rows of house plots facing each other across a street; streets and lanes; and specialised buildings such as churches and manor houses. Studying these factors allows the researcher to detect changes in land use and tenure over a substantial period and when used in conjunction with aerial photographs, the development of a village can be observed and reconstructed. Finally, Roberts raises further issues which he considers merit future investigation: village morphological studies, involving tracing changes in village outline before major reconstruction and redevelopment obliterates clues; and further investigation into the process of change and the relationship between demography and morphology.

The Local Historian Volume 9 Number 5 February 1971