First published in 1961, The English Farmhouse and Cottage brings together the evidence collected by those who have studied vanished buildings by excavation, and also examined surviving houses with a gentler instrument, the measuring tape. A change is taking place in the attitude towards the old buildings of the countryside. Into the place of the sentimentalist in search of the picturesque and the architect looking for a style have stepped the local historian and the archaeologist. Mr. Barley has built up a picture of the English countryman and his housing needs. He is concerned particularly with the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries since they were the most formative period in the evolution of the modern house.
This book is an essential tool in the hands of those who wish to pursue, whether as tourists or as students, an important and fascinating aspect of the history of Rural England.