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First published in 1978,
The End of Tradition is the history of four Surrey villages, the Horsleys and Clandons, close to London but isolated and protected from it by the Green Belt. Towards the end of the last century, a period of rapid change began in rural England as a new way of life centred on the nearby towns and cities replaced a traditional rural village life. Estates were broken up, agricultural life declined, village schools and parish councils were set up, and the pervasive influence of the village squire disappeared. But the coming of the railway, and later the motor car, provoked the most fundamental changes, for the isolation of the village was ended. The railway linked the villages of Surrey with London. In exclusive housing estates of detached homes in culs-de-sac, the exceptionally high status of the village was enhanced by the efforts of the newcomers to protect their new style of life through the most comprehensive countryside protection system in Britain. This is a must read for students and scholars interested in British history and sociology.
List of contents
Preface 1. Rural England
2. The Past as Prologue
3. Contemporary Countryside
4. Migration and Housing: Elites and Council Tenants
5. Country Life
6. Participation and Planning: Preservation and People
7. The End of Tradition
Notes Index
About the author
John Connell
Summary
First published in 1978, The End of Tradition is the history of four Surrey villages, the Horsleys and Clandons, close to London but isolated and protected from it by the Green Belt. But the coming of the railway, and later the motor car, provoked the most fundamental changes, for the isolation of the village was ended.
