Traditional Buildings of the English Countryside

An Illustrated Guide

by Geoffrey R. Sharpe

Wander the paths and tracks of this crowded country for any length of time and you will stumble across buildings built for a multitude of purpose. This book is for anyone that has questions as to purpose and the lovely regional variations in building materials and styles. I include below just a handful of photographs that I have taken where this book proved useful to me in providing just a little more information to sate my curiosity.

Ightham Mote. Fortified house, now held by English Heritage. This magnificent building was passed by Three Points of the Compass on The London Countryway

Pages from ‘Traditional Buildings of the English Countryside’. Engine houses were encountered on the North Cornwall coast path

A mixture of farm buildings passed in the Lake District. Sharpe includes a chapter on building materials in his book

Clock Tower, in the shadow of the Malvern Hills

Cley Mill was seen on the Norfolk Coast Path

Reculver Towers on the Viking Coastal Trail, part of the Kent Coast Path now subsumed by the England Coast Path

My copy of this book has lost its dust jacket at some point. In its 228 pages, the author can only briefly cover a wide variety of buildings, but he has done a fine job in their selection. You can get a good idea on purpose, materials and the ‘why’ of most building types encountered on the trail in England, but not Scotland, so no Brochs!

Dovecot, seen when walking the town walls, Chester

Walking the streets of London and passing the unmistakable wedding cake spire of St. Brides Church

My colour photographs can be seen in this blog, that is the about the only complaint I can level at this volume- it would have benefited from colour images, the photographs amongst the 131 illustrations could also have done with being sharper.

Three Points of the Compass found pastoral splendour on The Ridgeway

Books from my shelves:

Traditional Buildings of the English Countryside, an Illustrated Guide. Geoffrey R. Sharpe. I.B.Taurus. 2011. ISBN 978 84885 6141