The cottages in early times were probably of a very humble character, built of "wattle," or osier twigs intertwined like an ordinary basket, and plastered over with mud or clay. In eastern countries, Egypt for instance, the heat of the sun was sufficient to convert this clay or mud into what is called "crude brick," which was very durable, but in England it required constant renewal, and in the course of time the wattle rotted away from damp. In marshy districts the cottages were built of turf or peat, as is still the case in parts of Ireland and Scotland. Upon the borders of Staffordshire and Worcestershire, curious caves are to be found which are in some cases still inhabited, and are probably among the earliest human habitations in this country. Some of the Derbyshire caves also were converted into habitations, and many of the holes burrowed in the cliffs all round our coast were similarly utilised. In after times they became very convenient hiding-places for smugglers and their illicit wares.
It is a singular fact that English school-boys, and we much fear even girls, take a delight in digging caves and crawling into them, and as it requires a good deal of "wholesome correction" to put a stop to this dangerous practice, it may be a question whether there is not some natural or hereditary instinct which prompts children to work so hard at this kind of mischief. Of course, the delightful notion of being a "bold robber," or a "ferocious bandit," adds some zest to these very risky operations.
A friend of ours once discovered his children hard at work at the construction of a cave in his back garden. They proposed to be a terror to the neighbourhood, and he told them all about the shocking things that were done by robbers who lived in caves, how "they rushed from their concealed hiding-places and robbed the unwary traveller," etc. He was met by the remark, "That is exactly what we propose to do, pa." "How they stocked the cave with provisions which they had raided from law-abiding folks." The chorus came as before, "That, papa, is what we intend to do." "At last, my children, they were all captured, the smaller ones well beaten, and the older ones hanged." The chorus was far less jubilant. "Oh, pa, we don't expect that." "Well, my children," said he, "you must receive the rewards for your prowess." He found a few days afterwards that the cave was completely abandoned.
The earliest cottages or village residences in England, if we except such buildings as Winwall and Armenhall in Norfolk, or Combe Pyne in Devonshire, which are simply portions of larger buildings converted into cottages, do not date earlier than the fifteenth century.
AT EWHURST, SURREY.
It is somewhat remarkable that the "home counties" should be richer in village architecture than any other part of the country, and it is not a little singular that many of the best examples are to be found within a radius of some thirty miles of the metropolis.
AT EWHURST, SURREY.
The beautiful little village of Ewhurst, in Surrey, contains charming examples, some dating as early as the sixteenth century. Ewhurst is now fairly well known to Londoners who take an interest in beautiful scenery and picturesque architecture, but thirty years back was as much a terra incognita as Dettelbach in Bavaria, where the inn-keeper told the writer that he had never seen an Englishman before, and was very much astonished to find that he did not after all "differ so very much in appearance from a German."