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A journey of discovery into the architectural and social structures of cottage living. Here are the cruel realities of a past rural Britain and the natural opportunities that our rush into progress left behind. Not the beaten track of sentimental nostalgia, but an insight into the fabric and development of cottages and the real lives they sheltered. Cottage building is explained clearly, giving a coherent understanding of the developments in cottage architecture and the diversity of natural building materials. Our cottage ancestors were the most important factor in the formation of the British heritage of ideas, attitudes and aspirations. As life is breathed into these old homes, and the society which surrounded them, it can be seen that the workaday majority never did live in a cottage idyll. The author s meticulous research has enabled him to rebuild important cottages as they were in their heyday. The use of traditional materials and methods ensure that these structures are faithful to the originals in all but size. Set among the trees of a small, living countryside, they provide unique photographs of a lost Britain. We travel from deep in the past through to the present day, to arrive with a real understanding of the significance of Britain s cottage heritage.