DOI issue:
No. 49 (April, 1897)
DOI article:Morris, G. L.: Evolution of village architecture in England
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18388#0189
Evolution of Village Architecture
Housing of the Working Classes " says, that there
seems no reason why manufactories and the works of
various industries should not be transferred to the
country districts. It is in the more general adop-
tion of this proposal on some such lines as Port Sun-
light or Cresswell Mining Village that advance will
be made. The villages must be either built on the
confines of the town, or in the heart of the country.
"With the enormous extension," says Dr. Bowmaker,
" of our railway systems to which we have been in-
debted for much of the pressure upon the towns,
such decentralisation is rendered possible. The
plan has already been adopted to a limited extent
by many firms manufacturing in the rural districts,
who carry on their business from offices or ware-
houses in the centres." It is not difficult to see
that the nature of some industries might possibly
prevent this arrangement, but where the industries
rendered it possible, the many advantages would
amply compensate for the great difficulties to be
overcome which must necessarily accompany such
changes.
Further difficulties to the extension of industrial
villages might be multiplied, some of which are
dealt with indirectly in Ur. Bowmaker's work. One
objection is the cost of land and the removal of the
factories ; another is that even where it was possible
to obtain land at a reasonable outlay on the con-
fines of an industrial centre, the distance to be
traversed and the time occupied in travelling to and
from work would be an objection difficult to over-
come, even in those cases where the local authorities
controlled the tram lines and could grant great reduc-
tions in the fares. This last objection would hardly
be applicable to Port Sunlight or even Cresswell, but
only where the industry was situated in the town,
with the village standing away on the outskirts.
Of the villages illustrated here, two are typical of
what has already been done under existing circum-
stances in Port Sunlight and Cresswell MiningVillage.
Other villages are at Bournville, Aintree, Saltaire,
and Val de Bois in France. In each of these there
is still room for development, not so much as re-
gards size, but in the grouping of the cottages, the
schools, factories, and in the planning of the gardens,
design in building, choice of materials, and crafts-
manship of the work. At Bournville, the works of
Messrs. Cadbury, sufficient study has not been
Housing of the Working Classes " says, that there
seems no reason why manufactories and the works of
various industries should not be transferred to the
country districts. It is in the more general adop-
tion of this proposal on some such lines as Port Sun-
light or Cresswell Mining Village that advance will
be made. The villages must be either built on the
confines of the town, or in the heart of the country.
"With the enormous extension," says Dr. Bowmaker,
" of our railway systems to which we have been in-
debted for much of the pressure upon the towns,
such decentralisation is rendered possible. The
plan has already been adopted to a limited extent
by many firms manufacturing in the rural districts,
who carry on their business from offices or ware-
houses in the centres." It is not difficult to see
that the nature of some industries might possibly
prevent this arrangement, but where the industries
rendered it possible, the many advantages would
amply compensate for the great difficulties to be
overcome which must necessarily accompany such
changes.
Further difficulties to the extension of industrial
villages might be multiplied, some of which are
dealt with indirectly in Ur. Bowmaker's work. One
objection is the cost of land and the removal of the
factories ; another is that even where it was possible
to obtain land at a reasonable outlay on the con-
fines of an industrial centre, the distance to be
traversed and the time occupied in travelling to and
from work would be an objection difficult to over-
come, even in those cases where the local authorities
controlled the tram lines and could grant great reduc-
tions in the fares. This last objection would hardly
be applicable to Port Sunlight or even Cresswell, but
only where the industry was situated in the town,
with the village standing away on the outskirts.
Of the villages illustrated here, two are typical of
what has already been done under existing circum-
stances in Port Sunlight and Cresswell MiningVillage.
Other villages are at Bournville, Aintree, Saltaire,
and Val de Bois in France. In each of these there
is still room for development, not so much as re-
gards size, but in the grouping of the cottages, the
schools, factories, and in the planning of the gardens,
design in building, choice of materials, and crafts-
manship of the work. At Bournville, the works of
Messrs. Cadbury, sufficient study has not been