The idyllic picture of the English country cottage is one of thatched roof and roses growing round the door. But the truth is that the vast majority of these cottages were in a deporable state, many unfit for habitation. In the days when many lived off the land, there was insufficient housing to meet the needs of the majority. This book describes the reasons for this and the effect on the life of the cottager, the rural labourer, craftsman and smallholder and consequently his housing, of the manorial system and its subsequent break up.