BRIEF HISTORY OF COUNTRYSID EB

Sally Coulthard

• Publisher: HarperNorth
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9780008559434
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

A Waterstones Best Book of 2024: Nature Writing

The untold story of rural Britain revealed through its artefacts

'A really lovely, fascinating book. I dived straight into this clever, joyous, celebration of nature, history, and – of course – the countryside.' Charles Spencer, author of The White Ship

For most of human history, we were rural folk.

Our daily lives were bound up with working the land, living within the rhythm of the seasons. We poured our energies into growing food, tending to animals and watching the weather. Family, friends and neighbours were often one and the same. Life revolved around the village and its key spaces and places – the church, the green, the school and the marketplace.

And yet rural life is oddly invisible our historical records. The daily routine of the peasant, the farmer or the craftsperson could never compete with the glamour of city life, war and royal drama. Lives went unrecorded, stories untold.

There is, though, one way in which we can learn about our rural past. The things we have left behind provide a connection that no document can match; physical artefacts are touchstones that breathe life into its history. From farming tools to children's toys, domestic objects and strange curios, the everyday items of the past reveal fascinating insights into an often-forgotten way of life. Birth, death, celebration, work, crime, play, medicine, beliefs, diet and our relationship with nature can all be read from these remnants of our past.

From ancient artefacts to modern-day memorabilia, this startling book weaves a rich tapestry from the fragments of our rural past.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Note to Readers
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Deer Headdress (c. 9500 BCE)
• 2. Coracle Postage Stamp (c. 1920)
• 3. Clay Tablet (c. 3400 BCE)
• 4. Bone Necklace (c. 3200–2500 BCE)
• 5. Pig Jaw (c. 2800–2500 BCE)
• 6. Burton Agnes Drum (c. 3000 BCE)
• 7. Model of Servant Grinding Grain (c. 2400 BCE)
• 8. The Flute of Veyreau (c. 2500–2300 BCE)
• 9. Sigerslev Axe (c. 3000 BCE)
• 10. The Thames Beater (c. 3500–3300 BCE)
• 11. Bell Beaker (c. 1800 BCE)
• 12. Vösendorf Baby Feeder (c. 1200-800 BCE)
• 13. Drinking Straw (c. 3000 BCE)
• 14. Trundholm Sun Chariot (c. 1400 BCE)
• 15. Tollense Figurine (c. 700 BCE)
• 16. Shoes of Damendorf Man (c. 300 BCE)
• 17. Hounslow Dog (c. 150 BCE)
• 18. Coligny Calendar (c. 1st Century BCE – 2nd Century CE)
• 19. Bronze & Iron Dagger & Sheath (c. 600–550 BCE)
• 20. Model of Oxen & Ard (c. 1800 BCE)
• 21. Corinium Cockerel (2nd Century CE)
• 22. Carbonised Orchard Apple (79 CE)
• 23. Slave Figurine (c. 3rd Century CE)
• 24. Water Newton Strainer (3rd to 4th Century CE)
• 25. House of Dionysus Mosaic (3rd Century CE)
• 26. Milestone (c. 120 CE)
• 27. Lead ‘Pig’ (c. 60 CE)
• 28. Roof Tile with Paw Print (1st Century CE)
• 29. Constans II Roman Coin (348–50 CE)
• 30. Jet Bear (3rd Century CE)
• 31. Shitterton Village Name (Anglo-Saxon)
• 32. Sutton Hoo Bucket (7th Century CE)
• 33. Cuddeson ‘Bowl’ (7th Century CE)
• 34. Axe-hammer (7th Century CE)
• 35. Falconry Finger Ring (c. 580–650 CE)
• 36. Month from a Farming Calendar (11th Century)
• 37. Wulfred Silver Penny (c. 810 CE)
• 38. Benty Grange Helmet (7th Century CE)
• 39. Fish Brooch (5th–8th Century CE)
• 40. Galloway Bird Pin (9th Century CE)
• 41. Stone with Graffiti of Castle (c. early 13th Century)
• 42. Chew Valley Hoard (c. 1068)
• 43. Savernake Horn (c. 12th Century)
• 44. The Gloucester Candlestick (12th Century)
• 45. Village Stocks & Whipping Post on Wheels (date unknown)
• 46. Spitalfields Mass Burial (1258)
• 47. Whiteware Jug (13th–15th Century)
• 48. Cailleach (date unknown)
• 49. Bronze Steelyard Weight (Late 13th Century)
• 50. Stained Glass Roundel (c. 1340–45)
• 51. Lead Cross (c. 1348–49)
• 52. Owl Misericord (14th Century)
• 53. Wharram Percy Merrills Board (13th Century)
• 54. Spiked Dog Collar (15th Century)
• 55. Bollock Dagger (15th Century)
• 56. Boxwood Nutcracker (16th Century)
• 57. Woodcut From De Arte Natandi (1587)
• 58. Dried Cat (17th Century)
• 59. Delft Tile (1660)
• 60. Playing Card (c. 1670–85)
• 61. John Worlidge’s Treatise of Cider (1678)
• 62. Rush Nips (17th Century)
• 63. Knitting Sheath (Late 17th Century)
• 64. The Pitchford Hall Cup (1684)
• 65. Set of Staddle Stones (Early 18th Century)
• 66. Lumbric Alum (18th Century)
• 67. Coat From Quintfall Hill (c.1700)
• 68. Lancashire Lambing Chair (c. 1750)
• 69. Portable Strong Box (c.17th–18th Century)
• 70. Sheep’s Heart Stuck with Pins and Nails (date unknown)
• 71. Tobacco Canister (1793)
• 72. Potato Rake (Late 18th Century)
• 73. Portrait of Robert Bakewell’s ‘Two-Pounder’ (Late 18th Century)
• 74. Astley Circus Poster (1784)
• 75. Staffordshire Horse (c. 1780–90)
• 76. Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (1805)
• 77. Bird Scarer (Early 19th Century)
• 78. Kingfisher Trap (Mid 19th Century)
• 79. Jar from the Wreck of the Katherine Shearer (19th Century)
• 80. Dr Merryweather’s Tempest Prognosticator (1850)
• 81. Keiller’s Marmalade Jar (19th Century)
• 82. Spratt’s Dog Food Advert (19th Century)
• 83. Hen Basket (19th Century)
• 84. Canal Boat ‘Castles & Roses’ Panel (Late 19th Century)
• 85. Leather Farm Boot (c. 1880)
• 86. Servant Bells at Dunham Massey (19th Century)
• 87. Peter Rabbit’s ‘Other Tale’ (1901)
• 88. Women’s Institute ‘Guild Of Learners’ Badge (Early 20th Century)
• 89. Water Filter (Early 20th Century)
• 90. Commuter Transport Poster (1910)
• 91. Walker’s Universal Mixture (Late 19th/Early 20th Century)
• 92. ‘DDT is Good for Me’ Advert (1947)
• 93. Chicken Goggles (c.1930)
• 94. Public Footpath Sign (20th Century)
• 95. Land Rover with Horse Trailer Dinky Toy (1960)
• 96. Yorkshire Billhook (Early 20th Century)
• 97. Hedgehog Road Sign (2019)
• 98. Granny Smith First Class Stamp (2003)
• 99. Ach Valley Tusk (c. 36000–30000 BCE)
• 100. Robo-Bee (21st Century)
• Acknowledgements
• Footnotes
• Index
• Book Credits
• About the Publisher