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© RIBA Publishing, 2019
Published by RIBA Publishing, 66 Portland Place,
London, W1B 1NT
ISBN 9781859468968
The rights of Ruth Reed to be identified as the Author of this
Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988 sections 77 and 78.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owner.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.
Commissioning Editor: Elizabeth Webster
Production: Richard Blackburn
Designed and Typeset by Studio Kalinka
Printed and bound by Page Bros, Norwich
Cover image: Ruth Reed
While every effort has been made to check the accuracy and
quality of the information given in this publication, neither
the Author nor the Publisher accept any responsibility for the
subsequent use of this information, for any errors or omissions that
it may contain, or for any misunderstandings arising from it.
www.ribapublishing.com
 Contents

iv Foreword PART 2
Lord Matthew Taylor
47 MAKING THE
v Preface
CASE FOR DEVELOPMENT
vi Acknowledgements
49 Chapter 5:
vii Introduction Examining perceptions
of new development–the
PART 1 survey of English councillors

71 Chapter 6:
1 PLANNING CONSTRAINTS
Case studies
ON COUNTRYSIDE
DEVELOPMENT
PART 3
3 Chapter 1:
The English Arcadia 97 A NEW APPROACH
13 Chapter 2: 99 Chapter 7:
Policy A new approach
27 Chapter 3: to assessment
Decision-taking 111 Chapter 8:
37 Chapter 4: Rural Development
Planning for Assessment
new development PA 123 Chapter 9:
RDA–worked example

151 Bibliography

153 Appendix
Survey of local authority
councillors into attitudes
towards development in the
English countryside

161 Index

164 Image Credits

iv

Foreword

Lord Matthew Taylor

In Building in Arcadia, Ruth Reed has crafted a unique, thoughtful insight into
the evolution of UK attitudes to development in the countryside and how it has
fostered both housing undersupply and poor development – leaving many rural
communities ever more unsustainable. In the name of protecting the countryside,
we have been killing too many communities with kindness.

Crucially, she doesn’t stop there – it is also a ‘can and must do better’ manifesto
and practice guide, an essential toolkit for everyone grappling with these issues.
People are well able to describe their hopes for a home and neighbourhood – a
decent and affordable house and, for most people, a small garden, in a strong
community with great local facilities and a good school. Yet we almost always fail
to deliver this in new developments. This book is a how-to guide to doing better.

In a country where, even in the ‘overcrowded’ South East, 87% of the land is still
green fields (England as a whole is still 91% green fields), we act as if we are so
short of land that an Englishman’s home can no longer include a decent garden,
and a new neighbourhood can’t support a pub or local shops.

To me, unlocking this undersupply has always meant understanding why we are
where we are, and using that knowledge to crack the politics of land supply, the
economics of housing delivery, and, bluntly, the all too often poor quality of what
we have been delivering. The aim should be to create and sustain holistic
communities with services and employment opportunities, places that encourage
new businesses to establish and grow – not just housing estates. Places where
people choose to live, not just places where people live because they have
no alternative.

I’ve spent the last decade working to advise successive governments on how we
address the fundamental question of how we supply the homes we need,
especially in rural communities and around the urban edge of cities, towns and
villages. This book is for anyone who wants to understand why – and how we
can do better.

So, I could not be more pleased to recommend Building in Arcadia as

essential reading.

This book is about sustaining, growing and creating sustainable, economically

vibrant communities that are fit for the 21st century. Not before time.

Lord Taylor of Goss Moor is visiting professor of planning at Plymouth University.

He has advised successive UK Governments on planning policy, including creating
the new UK National Planning Practice Guidance in 2012. In 2008, he conducted
the influential ‘Living Working Countryside’ review of rural planning policy. His
Garden Towns and Villages policy was adopted in 2016.
 v

Preface

As a country girl, I have been surprised by the attitudes of others to living and,
particularly, building, in rural areas. After practising as an architect for 13 years in
the Welsh Marches, I left the countryside to teach in Birmingham, and, for two
years, to act as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in
London. During this time, I experienced much misunderstanding about the role
of rural communities and land, and an even greater resistance to more building.
As an architect I have, at times, struggled to justify even small rural developments.
So, with my experience in planning, landscape and architecture, I have decided
to explore where these attitudes come from and how they can be overcome, to
ensure that the countryside remains economically viable and visually exciting.

To date, the landscape approach to assessing the impact of development in the

countryside is to consider how much it is seen and who will see it. The larger the
development, and the more sensitive the people who will see it, greater is the harm
that is identified. There has been no formal or informal mechanism for recognising
that buildings can enhance landscape – being able to see them in the context of a
landscape can enrich the countryside. If we can recognise the potential for some
benefit, then the impetus will be for better design, not concealment.

I believe that many of the problems of presentation lie in the words used to
describe proposals. If we talk of ‘impact’, the connotation is negative. If we call it
‘effect’ then the potential presents itself for both positive and negative outcomes.
If we allow people to exaggerate the effect of a development through the use
of hyperbole, it distorts the accuracy of the assessment of a proposal, so I have
suggested simple word scales to keep it proportionate.

As some development in the countryside is necessary and desirable, we need to

design to the highest standards in order to respect the context of our cherished
landscapes. The new assessment methodology suggested in this book combines
the appraisal of planning, landscape, community, architectural and environmental
aspects of design all in one place.

It is my hope that the methodology will give designers a chance to work up and
present their schemes as a positive addition to rural areas, and that it will give
decision-takers the confidence to approve them.

These are my views, not those of my practice, clients or the RIBA. I hope the
suggested methodology is helpful and, at the very least, that it opens up the
debate on building in the countryside.
vi

Acknowledgements

Ian Leighton for emotional support and technical help with the survey,
including data mining which is beyond me, and for all the driving on the road
trips to see case studies.

Green Planning Studio

For the time and financial resources to complete the book, particularly
Mike Rudd and Matthew Green, my fellow directors.

Nat Green, Joe Salt and Beth Lautman.

Critical friends
Steve Quartermain of MHCLG.

Carl Gulland of John Pardey Architects.

Councillors
The following councillors asked for their quotations to be acknowledged:
Councillor Dr Jon Orrell, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council Page 7 first quote
Councillor Thomas J N Smith, West Lindsey District Council Page 23 final quote
Councillor Paul Cropper, Bury Council Page 53 first quote
Councillor Philip Davies, Tandridge District Council Page 68 first quote
Councillor Joan Lea, North Warwickshire Borough Council Page 68 3rd quote
Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Rushcliffe Borough Council Page 69 first quote
Councillor David A Chance, Scarborough Borough Council Page 62

Production
Susannah Lear and Elizabeth Webster, commissioning editors,
RIBA Publishing.

The English, perhaps more than any other
nation in the world, are deeply attached
to the notion of Arcadia, an idealised
rural landscape that epitomises national
identity. We are, however, frequently blind
to the actual nature of the countryside,
the incremental changes that progress has
brought, and we resist new development
as if it is an intrusion into an unspoiled
landscape. This type of thinking has framed
local planning polices and decisions for
decades, and now threatens the nation’s
ability to provide enough homes and keep
small rural communities alive
vii
Introduction
Consequently, obtaining planning consent for any
building in the countryside can be very difficult. Local
policies are frequently out of step with the intent of
national policy – now set out in the National Planning
Policy Framework 2019 (NPPF). Local policies tend
to steer new development to existing settlements
with the intention of defending Arcadia by preserving
the ‘intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside’.
This phrase is embedded in the English planning
system, and although national policy has loosened
the constraint, by requiring recognition rather than
protection, many council policies still do require
protection, effectively preventing any development
that would impact on character and appearance,
which almost all development does.
Set against this, the pressure for new housing is now
greater than it has ever been before. Development
of some greenfield sites is now essential to meet
the demand for new homes, and development is
going ahead, led by national housebuilders using
standard house types with little reference to place
and frequently of average design. To ensure that
development is of the highest design quality, local
authorities need to seize the design agenda. To
do this, communities need to overcome the fear
viii
of change and replace it with an understanding
that some good development enhances rural lives,
supports social facilities and enhances landscapes.
The possibilities for the type of new development, its
character and appearance, are explored in this book
through an attitudes survey of councillors, and case
studies of successful schemes.
Local planning officers and elected councillors work
on the front line, deciding if and where countryside
development should take place. They have inherited
this great legacy of emotional attachment to the
rural landscape from their electorate, along with a
perception that it is under threat. This book should
be an aid to them in understanding that legacy,
and should enable them to recognise, in their
decision-making, that development would make
a positive contribution to a rural landscape. When
making applications, it should also assist architects,
planners and landscape architects to describe their
proposals in weighted terms that describe impact in a
proportionate way, accentuating where good design
can enhance Arcadia, not threaten it.
The structure of the book
This book is structured in three parts.
Part 1 – Planning constraints on countryside
development, examines why planning constrains
development and the effect of this.
To understand why the English are so protective of
their countryside, Chapter 1 explores the changing
attitudes to rural buildings and how the political,
social, economic and environmental pressures have
developed over time. This sheds light on the reasons
why planning policy now constrains development
and why decision-makers are reluctant to increase
the amount of building in the countryside, even when
it is needed. Chapter 2 sets out the current policy
landscape for rural planning, and Chapter 3 explains
how decisions are reached.
There are some areas in which development is
constrained by national policy to protect valued
landscapes and other irreplaceable assets, however,
there are also many good reasons why some rural
development should take place, particularly in less-
valued areas. These issues are set out in Chapter
4. The challenge is how to recognise what will be a
positive addition, improving the vitality of rural life
and the landscape, and what will harm this deeply
cherished aspect of English identity.
Part 2 – Making the case for development
examines existing attitudes to development in a
survey of local councillors, providing new research
into the attitudes to new housing development
of elected members of councils throughout rural
England. This part also contains case studies of
schemes that they might aspire to.
To derive the scale of impacts that form the new
methodology in the final section, the decision-makers
– local authority councillors across England – have
been consulted through an online survey. To provide
a baseline for presenting schemes for approval,
they were asked to give their opinion on whether
development in the countryside is necessary, and to
give their opinion of differing architectural styles.
The details of this survey and its results are set out
in Chapter 5. Selected comments submitted with
the survey are included throughout the text some
of the councillors asked to be acknowledged and
these are listed at the start of the book. A copy of the
questions that were sent out in the survey is shown in
the Appendix.
The profile of councillors that responded to the
online survey is similar to that identified in the 2013
census, the details of which are set out in Chapter
3.1 They are predominately male and middle-
aged or older. Amongst them there was general
agreement that some development for housing
and for employment is needed in the countryside,
but whether new homes should be permitted in the
green belt, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
(AONB) and National Parks divided opinion.
1 Kettlewell, K. and Phillips, L. (2014). Census of Local Authority Councillors
2013 (LGA Research Report). Slough: NFER

Where new housing was to be provided, there was a
clear preference for meeting the needs of the local
populations over those with less connection to
rural areas.
The modern house types also divided opinion. There
was greater support for developers’ standard house
types than for newer designs, however younger
councillors were more likely to favour modern
designs. Although some were vocal in their criticism
of the standard of design of new development,
there was no clear direction for improvement. The
individual comments that were provided reflected
these divisions.
The case studies in Chapter 6 have been selected
to illustrate small-to-medium-size housing
developments across England that address different
housing needs and have successfully met different
planning challenges in rural areas. Individual houses
and rural building conversions were not included
because they are particularly specific to their location.
Large housing schemes that required Environmental
Impact Assessments were also not included.
Part 3 – A new approach, sets out a new
methodology for presenting schemes with a
worked example.
The book concludes with a methodology for
describing how well-designed buildings can relate
positively to the landscape – the Rural Development
Assessment. From the research, a lexicon of
descriptors has been derived, and a template drawn
up for inclusion in the planning statement, or design
and access statement by the applicant or their agent.
This should assist decision-makers in establishing if
new development will have a positive effect. It sets
out how new buildings can be described by those
making the planning application in carefully weighted
terms, so that decision-makers can then have
confidence in the actual impact of the development,
rather than considering all proposals with an
exaggerated sense of potential harm.
ix
Relevance beyond the
English planning system
The context for the research has been the English
planning system, partly because this is the main area
of the author’s practice, but also because it is here
that the conflict between national identity and the
reality of a growing population and economy appears
to be the most acute. Some of the pressures on the
countryside found in England are also found abroad.
Most countries, however, are managing migration
from the countryside to the cities, rather than a
growing rural population, and there remains a cultural
aversion to adopting the vernacular styles associated
with the peasantry.
Planning legislation is devolved to the home
nations and, although they have many similarities in
approach, the differences reflect the different political
and geographic environments. The divergence varies.
For instance, England and Wales share the same
primary legislation, but have secondary legislation
and policy set separately in Westminster and the
Senedd. Despite the differences, it is hoped that
the Rural Development Assessment is sufficiently
generic to be of value to applicants in the other
home nations.
Definition of countryside
It is important to establish a definition of ‘countryside’.
In planning terminology, it is any land that is
not within a defined settlement. A settlement is
defined by a development boundary, beyond which
development is constrained. The boundaries exist
on local development plans alone and there is no
hard evidence of their existence on the actual edge
of settlements. For example, they do not necessarily
coincide with the village name sign, or the start of
the 30 miles-per-hour speed limit. The boundaries
are frequently drawn so tightly around cities, towns
and villages that many existing groups of buildings
lie outside the settlement in terms of planning policy,
x
although in reality they relate more closely to the
adjacent town or village than to the open countryside
beyond. The countryside beyond varies enormously,
from peri-urban (the rural-urban fringe) to deep
rural. Entire small villages and hamlets have no
development boundaries and are entirely ‘countryside’
in planning terms. Throughout this book, the term
‘countryside’ will refer to the planning definition, with
the proviso that some sites in the countryside are
only seen in the context of other buildings – in other
words, within actual settlements, and therefore they lie
outside the scope of the methodology.
The countryside is also not necessarily rural, it can be
greenfield or brownfield, agricultural, recreational,
equestrian or other previously developed land.
Consequently, it can vary considerably in its aesthetic
value. Our most beautiful landscapes carry the
highest level of constraint on development: the
National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
and the Broads. Similarly, areas of countryside of
significant historic importance are protected as World
Heritage Sites and Historic Parks and Gardens. In
these areas, development has to conserve or enhance
the character and appearance of the area and its
setting. There are also local designations (based
on local landscape and heritage assessments) that
demonstrate that the landscape is out of the ordinary,
resulting in it being considered a ‘valued landscape’
in terms of the National Planning Policy Framework.
These landscapes are to be protected and enhanced.
Development is also strictly constrained in the
green belts, where much development is considered
‘inappropriate’ and therefore harmful. ‘Green
belt’ is not a landscape designation, although it is
often assumed that it is. It is a zone of restriction
on development. There are 14 areas of green belt
in England, 13% of the land area of the nation is
designated as such, significantly more than the area of
developed land (this can be seen clearly in Figure 2.2
on page 18). The value of the landscape is at its most
variable here for the reasons explored in Chapter 2,
however, in considering applications for development
in the green belt, the decision-maker will also reach a
conclusion on the impact made to the character and
appearance of the countryside, if that is its context.
2 Bobby Duffy, Ipsos MORI Land Density Omnibus Research, Isos Public Affairs
UK, December 2017
The scale of development
and its context
To understand whether the context of proposed
development is deep rural, peri-urban or somewhere
in between, a picture of the variations in density of
the population in England is explored in Chapter 4.
A poll by Ipsos MORI2 showed that people greatly
overestimate the amount of development in England.
When people were asked to guess the amount of
land that is densely built up, the mean figure of the
answers given was 47%. In reality it is 0.1%. This has to
have a significant effect on how decisions are made
about building in the countryside. An understanding
of this element of context is part of the assessment
to determine if the proposed development will be
proportionate in scale to its surroundings.
The scale of new countryside development ranges
from single buildings through to small developments,
extensions, existing settlements, right up to the size of
new towns and villages. For large-scale developments
that will have significant effects on the environment,
landscape assessments will form part of the
Environmental Impact Assessment required under
the Town and Country Planning (Environmental
Impact Assessment) regulations 2017. The Guidelines
for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment3 are the
basis of the appraisal required for large development
and, although they do not effectively address the
impact of architectural quality on the landscape, this
can be addressed later by local authorities at reserved
matters stage.
The scope of this book, and the Rural Development
Assessment it proposes, are designed to be
appropriate for single buildings, small developments
and smaller extensions to existing settlements. It
is not intended for development entirely within
settlements where existing urban design guidance
would be suitable, such as the Design Companion for
Planning and Placemaking,4 supplementary planning
documents produced by the planning authority,
village design statements and Neighbourhood Plans.
3 Landscape Institute and Institute of Environmental Management and
Assessment, Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment,
Routledge London, 3rd Edition 2013
4 Urban Design London, Design Companion for Planning and Placemaking,
RIBA Publishing London, May 2017
 xi

However, where the proposed development would

affect the countryside, the new method of describing
the effects would be appropriate.

How to use this book

This book can be used in a number of ways: as a
reference text on the history of English attitudes
to rural development, with particular reference to
its impact on the character and appearance of the
countryside; as a piece of research into the attitudes
of local councillors towards countryside development;
as a descriptor of what good rural development
looks like; or just as a technical guide to preparing an
application for rural development. However, tying
these all together is the argument that some high
quality, sustainable development is good for the
countryside and society. The methodology is given
authority by the background research that records
the attitudes of decision-makers, and any application
should reference this. Whichever way the reader
approaches the book, it is hoped that the narrative,
evidence and the assessment method assist in
reaching an informed position on new
countryside development.
PART 1

Chapter 1
The English Arcadia

Chapter 2
Policy

Chapter 3
Decision-taking

Chapter 4
Planning for a new
development
 The English Arcadia
1
Oh, to be in England To understand why development in the countryside
Now that April’s there, is so constrained by planning decision-makers,
And whoever wakes in England it is necessary to appreciate how the prevailing
perception of a rural idyll evolved as England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
industrialised and urbanised. This gave rise to the
That the lowest boughs and the culture of protectionism that sought to restrict
brushwood sheaf new development in the countryside, which in turn
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, informed the development of rural planning policy.
While the chaffinch sings on the This chapter also examines how the concept of
orchard bough acceptable rural architecture evolved and why it
In England—now!1 differs from urban architecture. This is set out under
the following headings:

+ From agriculture to industry

in the 18th–19th century
+ Country living in the 19th–20th century
+ Modern pressures on the rural landscape
+ The rise of protectionism
+ A history of rural planning
+ Changing perceptions of an
appropriate rural architecture

1 Robert Browning, ‘Home-Thoughts, from Abroad’, 1845

 PART 1
4 BUILDING IN ARCADIA
From agriculture to industry
in the 18th–19th century
England in the 18th century was predominantly
agricultural, supporting a market economy centred
on the market towns and London. Appreciation
of the aesthetic qualities of the landscape was the
preserve of the landed gentry who were laying out
country estates, providing both prestige and income,
as well as a base for rural pursuits such as hunting,
shooting and fishing. The country seat was the focus
of aristocratic life, and was occupied as a primary
residence. The town house just provided a base from
which to supervise business interests and enjoy the
short social season.
The country estate was designed to impress and has
furnished the English landscape with many beautiful
houses set in idealised parkland settings. The English
Landscape Movement of the 18th century is, for many,
the pinnacle of landscape design, epitomised by the
work of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. It is significant to
modern planning because, for the first time, with the
economic and political control of the ruling class, the
natural landscape was manipulated and enhanced on
a wide scale.
One of the aspects of these grand visions was the
development of model estate villages. Existing
worker housing, inconveniently sited in the idealised
vistas, could be swept away to be reconstructed out
of sight, in an exaggerated vernacular of cottage-
loaf thatched roofs, ornate rustication and heavily
timbered porches. This is the first indication that
reproducing vernacular architecture was considered
the appropriate form for new rural buildings.
Although arranged in formal estates, and frequently
with repetitive use of house types, the rural village
was not to be the same as the mass housing being
built in towns, where the terraced house was
replicated at all scales and for all social classes. Rural
new-build housing was done in a faux vernacular style,
reworking the components of vernacular construction
as ornamental elements for the working classes, while
the country seat of the 18th century was classical.
So successful and enduring was the outcome, that
villages such as Milton Abbas, within the estate of
Milton Abbey in Dorset, are still held to be exemplars
of rural design.
The estate workers in their new houses were the lucky
few. For the majority, homes in the countryside were
still medieval constructions. An increasingly mobile
rural population, freed from feudalism in Tudor times,
FIG 1.1:
Milton Abbas, estate village
to Milton Abbey, Dorset, Sir
William Chambers (1723–1796)

FIG 1.2: A Village Street by
Helen Allingham
had already begun to move towards alternative
sources of employment in the towns. This was fuelled
by a rise in population that could not be supported by
agricultural employment alone.
This trend accelerated remarkably in the second half
of the 18th century, with the arrival of the Industrial
Revolution. It had a profound effect on the balance
between the rural and urban populations. Between
1750 and 1851 the percentage of the population
supported by the rural economy dropped from 75%
to 21%.2 Throughout the 19th century, the countryside
depopulated and the rapidly growing population of
England became overwhelmingly urban.
With the growth of the cities came the idealisation
of the countryside by the urban population. The new
middle classes, anxious to escape the polluted and
overcrowded cities, looked to the countryside as a
cleaner, more spacious place to live. The growth of
a nostalgic and romantic view of nature and rural life
idealised a landscape that had evolved from more
pragmatic influences. The country estate and its
strict social hierarchy, field enclosures, developing
agricultural technologies and rural depopulation
had actually formed the countryside, but what the
19th century urbanite saw was a simpler and more
2 Michael Bunce, The Countryside Ideal: Anglo-American Images of Landscape,
Routledge, London and New York, 1994, p9
5
picturesque existence, with a strong and enduring
social order.
This dream of Arcadia was fuelled by the growth
of new literature and art, promulgated by the
mechanisation of printing. Writers such as George
Eliot, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen and Thomas
Hardy described the class structure of rural society in
romantic terms. Poets such as Robert Browning and
Gerard Manley Hopkins explore the place that the
rural idyll holds in the English psyche. Artists such as
John Constable, JMW Turner and Thomas Girtin
celebrated the English landscape, capturing scenes
of rural life, and buildings against a wider backdrop of
land and sky. Agricultural workers were given greater
dignity and became the focus of the French realists
such as Millet.
On a smaller and more focussed scale, Helen
Allingham, the first woman to be admitted as a full
member of the Royal Watercolour Society, captured
and, at times, re-imagined the country cottages
she found in Surrey, Dorset, the Isle of Wight and
Kent, in her paintings and watercolours. The middle
classes, whose parlour walls these vignettes adorned,
either did not know or did not care that these were
romanticised images of rural poverty and decay,
 PART 1
6 BUILDING IN ARCADIA
as rural depopulation caused buildings to fall into
disuse and disrepair. The bucolic image of the small
cottage and the tumble-down village street became
central to the romantic image of rural life, and the
dwellings that remained became swept up in the tide
of gentrification that accompanied the movement of
the middle classes out of the cities.3
Country living in
the 19th–20th century
In the 19th century, the notion of a country seat
was taken up by the growing numbers of wealthy
industrialists who built a house in the country not
as a place of income, but one of leisure. The town
house was, for them, the primary seat, and the
country house was for the summer season and for
the weekends. This notion of owning a second home
filtered down to the middle classes, and by the 1880s
there was a fashion for weekend cottages, supported
by the ever-growing railway network. The desire
to own some land in the countryside reached the
working classes of the South East in the early 20th
century, resulting in the plotlands: small parcels of
land bought by Londoners to site a cabin or cultivate
a smallholding.
The railways brought even greater change to the
countryside, as they facilitated the spread of suburbia,
and beyond it, exurbia – a term first coined by
Spectorsky – to describe a great wedge of country
residential development extending for 100 kilometres
to the north and west of New York City.4 It is used by
Bunce5 to describe the exclusive estates of villas now
in the outer suburbs of London: Chislehurst, Esher
and Ascot, and the Metrolands – the commuter
villages that grew up along the Metropolitan Railway
– such as Gerrards Cross, Radlett, Haywards Heath
and Harpenden.
3 Ina Taylor, Helen Allingham’s England: An idyllic view of rural life, Webb and
Bower, Exeter, 1990
4 Augusta C Spectorsky, The Exurbanites, Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1955
5 Michael Bunce, The Countryside Ideal: Anglo-American Images of Landscape,
Routledge: London and New York, 1994, p93
The England that was the focus for patriotism in the
First World War was perceived to be an unchanging
rural idyll. In reality, the war brought irreversible
change to the countryside, stripping the great houses
of their workforces and seeing the construction of
army camps. After the war, change accelerated with
the spread of low density suburbia, and the breakup
of many large country estates due to death duties
and a lack of an available workforce to maintain them.
The rural population who were engaged in agriculture
declined as a change from arable land to pasture
was brought about by economic pressures.6 The
proportion of commuters, retirees and small business
owners grew – people who chose the countryside for
its lifestyle rather than through economic necessity,
and with the new population grew pressures to resist
further change.
These new rural dwellers brought with them the
urbanite view of country life and a desire to preserve
a rural idyll that was more a construct of art than of
reality. The focus of this ideal was the village, and the
more picturesque the village, the more desirable it
was. Although the growth of exurbia is most prevalent
in the home counties, it has driven an attitude to rural
life that exists across England to this day.
The residents of exurbia developed a high level
of protectionism that endures and shapes modern
planning decisions. Ironically, many of the homes built
in the early years of the development of exurbia have
now become the rural assets to be protected. Bunce
articulates the drive for protection of the English
village by those who have invested in it and in the
countryside, as a residential ideal.
The pressure for housing is now greater than it has
ever been before, and the desire to move to the
country is as great as it ever was. It is the pressure for
housing land that has highlighted the perceptions of
what role the countryside should play in society and
what is appropriate new development within it.
6 Gordon E Cherry and Alan Rogers, Rural Change and Planning: England and Wales
in the Twentieth Century, E and FN Spon, London, 1996, p47–49
 7

Modern pressures on There is a very limited

view of what the countryside/
the rural landscape rural England really is. What
The pressure for new housing and the desire to we are currently left with is a
convert redundant rural buildings into desirable depopulated and monoculture
residences were not the only pressures for change rural England where past
that started to grow in the mid-19th century and rural populations have been
throughout the 20th century. To what was once a
decimated by enclosure and land
predominantly agricultural landscape, have come
new infrastructures of canals, railways, metalled roads, owners replacing smallholding/
road signs, street lighting, advertising, telephone community/common land
cables and overhead powerlines. These have all had ownership with sheep and
a profound effect on the countryside. One has only livestock or monoculture
to look at the present setting of a Helen Allingham deserts. This is not traditional
cottage in a village street to understand how
rural England. It is a modern
ingrained and irreversible these changes now are.7
fallacy that one should look at
Demand for industrial and building resources has a landscape and see no human
grown with the economy, resulting in extensive habitation or small-scale human
quarrying, reservoirs and forestry. These now occupy
farming/dwelling.
significant tracts of what was once agricultural or
marginal land.

Tourism and leisure also have a significant influence

on the modern countryside. The use of the
countryside for recreation has both ensured its
preservation and also instigated lasting change.
The tourist experience of the countryside reinforces
the notion of a rural idyll. The visitor can take tours
of the homes of the aristocracy and other notable
FIG 1.3:
The Street, Bearsted, in 2018
The green belt, especially
in London, is there to provide a
buffer against the city and the
wider low density settlements
around London. It is vitally
important to preserve it to provide
recreational use to the inner city
within close proximity and should
be preserved.

…why can’t they build little

cottages these days?

7 Annabel Watts, Helen Allingham’s Cottage Homes Revisited,

Annabel Watts, 1994
 PART 1
8 BUILDING IN ARCADIA

figures of earlier centuries and attend demonstrations

of rural crafts and visit model farms. The right to
roam, established in the 20th century, has made
vast tracts of upland and moorland accessible for
many different rural activities. This has all created a
growing demand for tourist accommodation, now
provided in existing rural buildings, new cottages,
caravans and tents. The more valued the landscape,
the more intense the sense of the role of the
countryside as a visitor experience.

The old rural economy is now served by new

buildings. The modern agricultural shed now
provides storage for crops and machinery and
housing for livestock, replacing smaller, older stone
or brick barns, in turn leaving these available for
conversion to residential or other business uses.
Frequently put outside the control of the planning
system through the use of permitted development
rights, modern farm buildings are now a dominant
form in many rural landscapes.
The demand for cottages from weekenders and the
new residents of exurbia, put the traditional rural
dwelling out of the financial reach of those in need
of housing. In the mid-20th century, rural workers
were housed in small developments of council
housing in, or adjacent to, existing villages, usually in
an unapologetically pragmatic modern vernacular.
These 20th century country workers were housed
by the state, not by the lord of the manor, and the
architecture was unromantic. Since the Right to
Buy council house scheme introduced by Margaret
Thatcher in 1980 has resulted in these houses being
sold off, the planning system has evolved complex
tests for justifying the need for new, essential rural
worker dwellings that are now to be built by rural
enterprises, and not by the local council.
In all isolated areas of the countryside, essential rural
worker housing is the only new housing permitted
by national policy, except for that of exceptional
design or innovation as discussed in Chapter 2.8 The
pressure for new housing development is focussed
within and on the edge of settlements. It is here that
it is heavily resisted by local decision-makers, despite
FIG 1.4:
Rural housing for Loddon Rural
District Council, College Road,
Thurlton, 1948, Tayler and Green
the irrefutable evidence of the overwhelming need
for new housing. The drive to preserve the village
from development is as strong as ever.
The rise of protectionism
With the pressure of a growing population and an
expanding economy, it is easy to see how those who
invested in Arcadia feel that its essential qualities are
being lost. The voices of preservation are loud, if not
always the majority view. It can appear that no case
can now be made for new development in rural areas,
even when there is a genuine and pressing need for
it. The residents of exurbia and the city dwellers with
little experience of rural life other than as a weekend
visitor are not the only people affected by change
in the countryside, but in many cases, the voices of
preservation are the ones that prevail.
The desire to restrict and control rural change found
voice in the Council for the Preservation of Rural
England, founded in 1926 by Sir Patrick Abercrombie.
Since 2003 it has been known as the Campaign for
the Protection of Rural England (CPRE). This long-
lasting campaign group has had significant influence

8 Ministry for Homes, Communities and Local Government, National Planning

Policy Framework, Crown, July 2018, paragraph 79

on the shaping of rural planning policy. Some would
say its influence is disproportionate to its membership
of approximately 60,000.9
The CPRE has had many notable successful
campaigns, including influencing the instigation of
the green belts, and the route of motorways, reducing
advertising in the countryside and more recently,
being active in the promotion of a brownfield first
approach to housing land allocation.10
The CPRE has also made some controversial claims
that have done much to polarise public opinion
against building in the countryside, including the
claim that significant areas of the green belt were
being concreted over, and that there is sufficient
brownfield land within settlements to provide the
housing land required. The figures that relate to these
claims are explored in Chapters 2 and 4.
Equally polarised is the opposite position taken by
some housing developers wishing to exploit the
demand for high value housing close to the cities.
Between these groups is the planning system, tasked
with locating new development where and when it is
needed.
A history of rural planning
The framework to deliver a national planning system
was established from the late 19th century onwards
with the growth of the state. The establishment of
the County Councils in 1888 and the Urban and
Rural District and Parish Councils from 1894 provided
the mechanism of local governance that would, by
the mid-20th century, provide the structure for local
planning decision-taking.11 The two World Wars drove
the growth of centralisation through the necessity of
the war effort and afterwards, the reconstruction. The
Town and Country Planning Act 1947 was derived
from this centralisation and reflected both the need
to plan for development, and also to preserve land
from development. It put in place the means for local
authorities to create boundaries between town and
country and created the polarisation of the policies
9 John Sturzaker, Mark Shucksmith, Planning for housing in rural England: discursive
power and spatial exclusion, School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape,
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2011, p7
10 www.cpre.org.uk
11 Gordon E Cherry and Alan Rogers, Rural Change and Planning England and
Wales in the Twentieth Century, E and FN Spon, London, 1996, p6–8
9
for each that exist to this day. Development in the
countryside was to be constrained not only to protect
valuable agricultural land but also to protect the
beauty of the landscape. The 1947 Act was followed
by the National Parks and Access to the Countryside
Act of 1949 which began the designation of National
Parks and AONB. This established the areas in which
development is most constrained.
For the wider countryside, development was to
be focussed on key settlements which provided
essential services such as schools, shops and non-
agricultural employment opportunities. The notion
of sustainable development as that which is in easy
reach of these essential services, accessible by foot
or public transport rather than by reliance on the car,
developed to support key settlement policy.
The concept of green belts, constraining growth
around towns and cities by imposing tight restrictions
on development, began in the 1920s. The London
Metropolitan Green Belt was established by Act of
Parliament in 1938. It became national policy in 1955.
Patrick Abercrombie was the author of advisory plans
for London and other major British cities that not only
proposed new green belts, but also the establishment
of new towns. He had considerable influence over
post-war planning and many green belts were
established as a consequence.12 The concept was
very popular with the public as well as the planning
profession, and remains so to this day.
One central tenet of post-war planning was the desire
for public engagement in plan-making. However, the
length of time between the consultation on a plan
(for a district allocating land for future development)
and the point at which new development began,
often on different sites, resulted in a disconnect
that failed to attract public interest in plan-making.
At the start of the 21st century the new initiative of
localism was proposed by the Conservative Party in
their green paper (2010) Open Source Planning.13
This suggested that a less negative attitude to new
development could be fostered if local people
were actively engaged in identifying where new
development should take place in their area. The
12 John Sturzaker and Ian Mell, Green Belts: Past; present; future?, Routledge,
Oxford and New York, 2017, p26–28
13 The Conservative Party, Open Source Planning Policy Green Paper no 14,
The Conservative Party London, 2010
 PART 1
10 BUILDING IN ARCADIA
resulting Localism Act 2011 contained reforms that
enabled local groups, usually parish councils in rural
areas, to develop a Neighbourhood Plan, and for this
to be part of the local development plan. There is
some disputed evidence that shows this has resulted
in more housing being consented to in areas with a
Neighbourhood Plan in place. There is also evidence
to suggest that areas which are most likely to be
drawing up plans are those with an articulate middle
class population who have time, knowledge and
experience. These are most frequently the residents
of exurbia and they are not necessarily representative
of those in housing need.
The 1947 Act was conceived at a time of need for
increased food production. Nearly three-quarters of a
century later, rural needs are very different. The rural
population of England is growing and aging. The
last census showed that less than 1% of the working
population of Britain is engaged in agriculture,14
7% of the working population of rural areas. The
countryside now serves very different and conflicting
demands for food production, minerals, industry,
tourism and to provide homes for those who choose
to live there.
Despite the changes, there has been no wholesale
restructuring of planning policy in all these years.
In many ways, attitudes have hardened against
development as demand has grown. Later chapters
will set out that some development is needed, and
will show how it can be presented in a positive way to
maintain prosperous rural communities, not least by
showing how buildings can continue to enhance the
landscape as they have done for centuries.
14 Tim Pateman, (2010/11) Rural and urban areas: comparing lives
using rural/urban classifications Regional Trends 43 (Office for
National Statistics)
Changing perceptions
of an appropriate
rural architecture
The vernacular became the style of choice for the
country house in the second half of the 19th century
through the works of Norman Shaw and others,
based loosely on an Elizabethan style with half-
timbering, jetties and large brick chimneys. At the
same time, in a rebellion against mass production
and ostentatious ornamentation, the Arts and Crafts
movement emerged. Its proponents, architects
Morris, Pugin, Voysey and latterly Lutyens, developed
a stylised vernacular architecture that used rural
building forms and local materials. It was more
simplified than Norman Shaw’s approach, but both
provided the palette for the wholesale adoption of
the cottage idiom in the first half of the 20th century.
It became the appropriate style for not only new
rural housing, but also the new suburbia. Cottage
style homes were built in the new towns, beginning
with Letchworth Garden City and also by the
philanthropic industrialists for their urban extensions
such as Bournville and New Earswick.
The dominance of cottage style architecture for
rural and suburban development continued into the
20th century with swathes of half-timbered, semi-
detached houses and new colonial style bungalows
stretching out in ribbon development from the towns.
There were some notable exceptions. Two industrial
philanthropists of the 20th century chose to adopt
the international style for their worker housing. F H
Crittall at Silver End, Essex showcased the company’s
metal door and window frames in a development of
flat-roofed houses, and the Czech shoe company
Bata imported a standardised house type with
advanced lightweight construction for the new town
at East Tilbury in Kent.
After the Second World War, the shortage of building
materials and skilled labour coincided, perhaps
conveniently, with the adoption of the ‘modern’ style,
a stripped-back architecture with minimal decoration,

simple forms and detailing. It is this style, frequently
built from innovative factory-produced building
systems, that typifies village council houses of
this period.
A parsimonious approach to building continued
throughout the late 20th century as land values rose
and developers looked to cut construction costs to
retain profit margins. The simple vernacular forms
were joined by pastiche ‘Georgian’, as well as a revival
of ‘Tudorbethan’ as the most debased form of the
Arts and Crafts style. Most private housing that was
built in housing estates on the edge of villages across
England is of standardised house types with little local
distinctiveness, arranged in layouts dominated by the
needs of the car. It is this legacy, ironically, that not
only houses the large numbers of objectors to more
village development, but also provides the evidence
that additional housing could further strip away
village character.
In the 21st century, communities rely on private
developers to provide all new housing, including that
11
FIG 1.5:
Houses, Silver Street, Silver
End, Braintree, Essex, Thomas
Smith Tait
for social rent. The result is that the detached and
semi-detached two-storey brick boxes with pitched
roofs dominate almost all new rural development.
There are exceptions of course. Every decade has
brought with it smaller dwellings of exceptional and
distinctive design, from Silver Street in Silver End, the
Crittall workers’ village by Tait and MacManus of Sir
John Burnet and Partners in the 1920s,15 to Clay Field,
Elmswell, Suffolk, a housing association development
for local needs, designed by Riches Hawley Mikhail.16
However, none of these exemplars have led to a new
movement in rural housing design in the way that
Norman Shaw and the architects of the Arts and
Crafts movement achieved.
It is unfortunate that although new rural mass housing
is generally reviled, the residents of exurbia and the
policy makers in the city have not seized upon an
alternative architecture and delivery model. Rather
they have attempted to retreat behind a palisade of
green belt and declare the countryside inappropriate
for development. In Chapter 6 there are some
15 The Twentieth Century Society, 100 Houses 100 Years, Batsford,
London, 2017, p38–39
16 Clare Nash, Contemporary Vernacular Design How British
Housing can Discover its Soul, RIBA Publishing, London,
2016, p44–49
 PART 1
12 BUILDING IN ARCADIA
examples of different approaches to a new vernacular
which were tested in the survey of local councillors. It
is hoped that the research itself will have introduced
some decision-makers to alternatives to the volume
housebuilders’ house types.
The challenge for England in the 21st century is to
define and accept the new roles of the countryside
and to adopt an appropriate modern architecture that
enhances the landscape and the rural settlements.
The differences between town and country are now
so ingrained in English culture and the planning
system that it is unlikely that it will be an urban form
that becomes the rural norm.
This book identifies the direction of new vernacular
architecture and tests its acceptability with local
councillors. The results are set out in Chapter 6.
A move towards the acceptance of some rural
development is being led from the centre. The
revised National Policy Framework, published in
July 2018, includes a softening of national policy
towards rural housing as well as economic and social
development. The following chapter examines the
framework that local plans should use to develop their
policies that then underpin their planning decisions.
FIG 1.6:
Clay Field, Elmswell, by Riches
Hawley Mikhail

The framework for plan-making and
decision-taking needs to be understood
to appreciate where any necessary change
in the approach to development in the
countryside will come from. This chapter
sets out the hierarchy of policies that
direct decision-makers in the English
plan-led system. It also examines some of
the conflicts between national and local
planning, and between local plans and
Neighbourhood Plans, that affect rural
planning decisions under the following
headings:
2
+ The development plan
+ Policies that affect the countryside
+ Sustainable development
+ Areas of constraint
+ Green belt
+ Landscape and the natural
environment
+ The historic environment
+ Rural building conversion
+ Design in planning policy
+ Policy making for new housing
+ The policy approach to rural planning
 PART 1
14 BUILDING IN ARCADIA
The development plan
The English planning system is plan-led. Local
authorities prepare development plans, and the
policies within them when they are adopted are the
starting point for decisions about whether or not
development should be granted planning permission.
However, this process is discretionary, the approach
to individual decisions can be modified, and the legal
requirement first set out in the 1991 Act at section
54A1 and now covered by section 38(6) of the 2004
Act,2 is that decisions are made in accordance with
the development plan, unless material considerations
suggest otherwise. This is a realistic approach as
no development plan can contain policies to cover
every eventuality and many decisions are a balance
between considerations in favour of granting approval
for development, and the potential harm that may
result. This is known as the planning balance.
The development plan can have several components.
The new NPPF (2019) sets out that there should be
a clear distinction between the strategic plan, which
contains policies that set out the overall strategy for
the nature, pattern and scale of development3, and
local plans, which contain more detail including site
allocations and design principles.4
Strategic plans are produced by local authorities
either working together or individually. In non-
unitary authority areas, county councils have taken
responsibility for policies on minerals and waste,
and the district councils deal with all other matters.
However, there is a move to encourage county
councils to widen their scope and undertake strategic
planning, particularly to resolve where new housing
should be built across the combined areas of several
district councils. Local plan policies are provided by
the unitary bodies or the district councils and from
Neighbourhood Plans drawn up by parish, town or
neighbourhood forums. The picture is complex, and
to complicate matters further, many authorities have
not adopted an up-to-date plan.
1 Planning and Compensation Act 1991
2 Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
3 National Planning Policy Framework 2019, paragraph 20
4 National Planning Policy Framework 2019, paragraph 28
Neighbourhood Plans occupy a unique role in the
development plan. They provide the only policies
written by a body other than the local authority,
who, consequently, are not the decision-takers. This
creates a number of tensions within the system.
Neighbourhood Plans are the result of the Localism
Act 2011. They are designed to add more detail to
the development plan about where new development
should be sited within communities. Local groups,
usually parishes in rural communities, but also
town councils and other qualifying bodies in larger
settlements, draw up a plan. They first submit it to an
Inspector from the Ministry of Housing, Communities
and Local Government (MHCLG) for independent
examination and once cleared as meeting the
statutory requirements for a Neighbourhood
Plan, it is put to a community referendum. Once
accepted by the community it forms part of the wider
development plan and consequently the decision-
making process of the local council.
Neighbourhood Plans can provide detailed local
knowledge about the history of a settlement and can
encapsulate the community’s approach to design
and place-making, however, inevitably they reflect
the views of those with the drive, knowledge and
experience to draw them up and this can limit the
demographic profile of those who will be actively
involved. More importantly, they are drawn up and
voted on by those already resident in the area – people
who have invested financially and emotionally in a
community. There is little or no input by those wishing
to move into the area out of choice or necessity, and
consequently the plans are not fully representative
of the design aspirations of future residents of an
area. There is an inability to consult with these future
residents at all levels of plan-making, however at
Neighbourhood Plan level in particular it throws into
sharp focus the design preferences of the existing
community, and not the future, younger residents. This
has implications for the future of rural architecture.
Many communities have approached the
Neighbourhood Plan process as an opportunity to
improve their communities and provide facilities,
housing and job opportunities for the future.

However, there are also groups that have approached
the process with the intention of constraining or even
preventing new development. Because the process
includes independent examination, it ensures that the
plan that goes to referendum is in conformity with the
wider local plan, including making adequate provision
for new development. The process of allocating land
for future development can help communities accept
the inevitability of development and feel in control of
where it is to be located.
The drafting of all development plan policies,
whether strategic, local or Neighbourhood Plan
policies, is influenced by the requirements of other
legislation, most notably environmental legislation
originating from EU directives. The development
plan should also be consistent with national policy as
set out in the National Planning Policy Framework
and the accompanying Planning Practice Guidance.
The development plan can be supported by
supplementary planning documents adopted by
the local authority to provide detailed guidance and
assessments for decision-takers. These are not part of
the statutory plan and can include design guidance,
usually for residential development.
Policies that affect
the countryside
The form and origins of the development plans in
operation across England are diverse, however they
should all be consistent with national policy so, for this
discussion, the National Planning Policy Framework
2019 is taken as the baseline for discussing the polices
that affect countryside development proposals.
The degree to which local planning attempts to
diverge from national policy and the implications for
countryside development are discussed below.
Consistent with the direction of planning since the
end of the Second World War, the NPPF continues
the underlying principle of differentiating between
development in settlements and the countryside.
The underlying assumption is that all land that is not
15
defined as being within a settlement is considered to
be countryside in planning terms. The NPPF does
not dictate how a settlement is to be defined but
almost all development plans impose development
boundaries around cities, towns and larger villages.
Sustainable development
The 2019 NPPF continues the driving principle set
out in the original 2012 version by having, at its heart,
a presumption in favour of sustainable development,
set out in paragraph 11. From paragraph 7, it sets out
what it means by sustainable development. Paragraph
8 sets them out as three overarching objectives that
are interdependent:5
a) an economic objective – to help build a strong,
responsive and competitive economy, by ensuring
that sufficient land of the right types is available
in the right places and at the right time to support
growth, innovation and improved productivity;
and by identifying and coordinating the provision
of infrastructure;
b) a social objective – to support strong, vibrant and
healthy communities, by ensuring that a sufficient
number and range of homes can be provided to
meet the needs of present and future generations;
and by fostering a well-designed and safe built
environment, with accessible services and open
spaces that reflect current and future needs and
support communities’ health, social and cultural
well-being; and
c) an environmental objective – to contribute
to protecting and enhancing our natural, built and
historic environment; including making effective
use of land, helping to improve biodiversity,
use natural resources prudently, minimising
waste and pollution, and mitigating and adapting
to climate change, including moving to a low
carbon economy.
5 National Planning Policy Framework 2019, paragraph 8
 PART 1
16 BUILDING IN ARCADIA
The interpretation of the implications of these
objectives on rural planning and their interpretation
in the presumption set out in paragraph 11 are the
key features that shape rural plan-making and should
direct decision-taking. Their misuse in decision-taking
is discussed in Chapter 3.
For plan-making, the NPPF requires plans to make
provisions for their area, allocating sufficient land
for housing and other development, unless it would
require land in an area of constraint. All of these areas
are countryside related and are defined in footnote 6
to the policy paragraph as:
• Habitat sites and other areas of many development plan policies direct all new
environmental conservation
• Sites of Special Scientific Interest
• Green belt
• Local green spaces
• Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
• National Parks (and the Broads)
• Heritage Coast
• Irreplaceable habitats
• Designated heritage assets and other
heritage assets of archaeological interest
• Areas at risk of flooding or
coastal change
These areas are protected from the policies in the
NPPF directed at supplying land for housing and
other development, however it does not mean that
no development can ever take place in these areas,
only that it should be restricted.
The revised NPPF is focussed on the delivery of new
housing and in paragraph 72, in the Identifying Land
for Homes section, it suggests that the supply of large
numbers of new homes can be best achieved through
planning for larger scale developments such as new
settlements or significant town and village extensions,
possibly with new green belts around them. Away
from new settlements and large urban extensions, the
policies on rural housing are directed to maintaining
the vitality of rural communities. Paragraph 78 states:
To promote sustainable development in rural areas,
housing should be located where it will enhance or
maintain the vitality of rural communities. Planning
policies should identify opportunities for villages to
grow and thrive, especially where this will support
local services. Where there are groups of smaller
settlements, development in one village may support
services in a village nearby.
This is a permissive policy, encouraging appropriately
located homes, reinforced in the Planning Practice
Guidance.6 It overturns the protectionism that can
drive local policy and decision-making, however,
development to key settlements and put barriers
in the way of small-scale development in other
countryside locations, including smaller settlements.
Paragraph 79 – in part the replacement for paragraph
55 in the original version of the NPPF – does
constrain the development of isolated homes, but
is nuanced to permit homes which would make
a positive contribution to the economy or the
environment of the countryside. In the final bullet
point it repeats the famous ‘Gummer Clause’
introduced by John Gummer, Secretary of State for
the Environment under John Major in 1997, to ensure
that ‘each generation would have the opportunity to
add to the tradition of the Country House which has
done so much to enhance the English countryside.’
The paragraph reads:
Planning policies and decisions should avoid
the development of isolated homes in the countryside
unless one or more of the following circumstances
apply:
a) there is an essential need for a rural worker,
including those taking majority control of a farm
business, to live permanently at or near their place
of work in the countryside;
b) the development would represent the optimal
viable use of a heritage asset or would be
appropriate enabling development to secure the
future of heritage assets;
6 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, National Planning
Policy Guidance Rural Housing, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rural-housing, 16
May 2016, paragraph: 001 Reference ID: 50-001-20160519
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verpondings lijsten alstoen opgemaakt, 152 huizen, in andere lijsten
beloopt dat getal slechts 118: thans worden de wooningen begroot op
195. [7]

Het

WAPEN

Van dit dorp is een roode Warrekram, op een zilveren veld.

KERKLIJKE en GODSDIENSTIGE GEBOUWEN.

De Gereformeerde kerk, die hier in de eerste plaats genoemd moet

worden, stond weleer alwaar nu het Laarder kerkhof gevonden wordt; dit
draagt nog heden den naam van ’t St. Jans kerkhof, gelijk ook de kerk aan
Joannes den dooper was toegewijd: de huislieden waren in de
Spaansche beroerten niet magtig om deeze kerk vrij te houden, van het
geboefte dat er zig dikwijls in legerde, en sterkte; des werd zij, op last van
’s Lands Staaten, afgebroken; „en de ingezetenen,” dus luidt het geen wij
desaangaande leezen, „behielpen zig met de kapelle, die in het dorp
stond, en welke de tegenwoordige kerk is: zij was,” dus gaat de
beschrijver desaangaande voord: „in den jaare 1618, zo zeer vervallen,
dat de ingezetenen zig onmagtig vonden, om ze te herstellen, waarom zij
bij de Staaten verzochten, dat dit gebouw, voor die enkele reize, uit ’s
Lands middelen, in behoorlijken stand gebragt mogte worden, met belofte
dat zij in ’t vervolg van tijd, voor het onderhoud zouden zorg draagen:”
niettegenstaande de gezegde herstelling, vertoont het gebouw zig zeer
oud; er staat een agtkanten toren op, naar den Gottischen bouworde
ingericht; verder heeft zij, van binnen, niets aanmerkelijks genoeg om er
eenige melding van te maaken.

De Gemeente alhier, gecombineerd met die van Blaricum, wordt, gelijk

onder Blaricum reeds gezegd is, bediend door den Wel-Eerwaarden
Heere Carel Aeijelts, behoorende onder de Classis van Amsteldam: het
schoolhuis is er vrij goed.
Wat het voorgemelde kerkhof betreft, hetzelve ligt ten westen van Laaren,
naar den kant van Hilversum; het beslaat een vierkant pleintjen, gelegen
op een heuvel, en omringd van een aardene borstweering: „de
Roomschgezinden”, zegt men, „hebben [8]er groote eerbied voor, en
vorderen dat aldaar verscheidene mirakelen zouden gebeurd zijn, ja men
wil zelfs, dat ze er nog hunne aandacht, bij wijze van bedevaart,
verrichten: veelen, zeker; verkiezen er begraven te worden: men vindt in
het opschrift van eene zerk,” dit leezen wij elders, dat hier één hunner
Pastooren begraven is.

De laatstgemelde Gemeente (de Roomsche,) heeft alhier eene zeer wèl

gebouwde Statie, die door een Wereldsch Priester bediend wordt; thans
door den Wel-Eerwaarden Heere Nicolaus van Veen.

In ons artijkel wereldlijke gebouwen, hebben wij, dit dorp betreffende,

niets aantetekenen.

De

KERKLIJKE REGEERING.

Bestaat te Laaren, gecombineerd met Blaricum, uit den Predikant, twee

Ouderlingen en twee Diaconen.

Wegens de wereldlijke regeering kunnen wij ook niets bijzonders

aantekenen: men zie desaangaande onze beschrijving van Hilversum en
van Blaricum.

Voorrechten of verpligtingen zijn omtrent Laaren niet.

De

BEZIGHEDEN

Aldaar bestaan voornaamlijk in den landbouw, maar ook zijn er 50 à 60

weeverijen, die door onvermoeiden ijver in goeden stand gehouden
worden.

De geschiedenissen komen na genoeg met die van geheel Gooiland

overeen: de bijzonderheden zijn geenen.

De

LOGEMENTEN OF HERBERGEN

Zijn ’t Bonte paard, de Postwagen, en ’t Rad van Avontuuren.

De

REISGELEGENHEDEN

Zijn ’t naast dat men zig naar Naarden begeeft, en aldaar van de
gelegenheid gebruik maakt. [1]
[Inhoud]
Het dorp Hilversum
Het luchtig HILVERSUM verkeerd een barre grond
Door nuttige akkerbouw, in schoone kooren velden,
En doet door konst en vlijt, van ouds haar naam in ’t rond,
Tot eer van Gooilands oord door haar Fabriken melden.
 HET
DORP
H I LV E R S U M .

Onder de dorpen van het aangenaame Gooiland, munt het

bovengemelde in veele opzichten uit, of schoon het op ’t eerste aanzien
niet voor zodanig gehouden zoude worden, vooral niet met betrekking tot
deszelfs grootte; uit onze volgende aantekeningen, (die wij, bijna allen,
van de waardigste hand, en uit de plaats zelve dankbaarlijk ontvangen
hebben,) zal blijken dat Hilversum, zelfs Naarden, dat den naam van
Gooiland’s hoofdstad draagt, overtreft in getal van huizen, inwooneren,
en bloei.

LIGGING.

Deeze is op de Gooische heide, omtrent ander half uur gaands van de

stad Naarden: de ligging is voords ten hoogsten aangenaam, alzo men
den heuvelachtigen grond, rondsom het dorp, voor het grootste gedeelte
bebouwt met rogge, haver, boekwijt, enz. welke bebouwing de
aangenaamste landlijke gezichten oplevert, en in den bloeitijd der
gezegde graanen, vooral van de boekwijt, veele Amsteldammers en
andere nabuuren derwaards lokt, om zig met het beschouwen dier
bevallige tooneelen der Natuur te verlustigen: beklimt men het
zogenaamd Trompenbergjen 1 zo vertoont zig als in één oogenblik [2]voor
ons gezicht de blauwe heide, en vruchtbaare akkers, die met het
goudgeel graan pronken, terwijl de boekwijt als een zee van melk zig
vertoont—verder ziet men van daar bosschaadjes, weiden, een menigte
torens, en ook een gedeelte van de Zuiderzee, waarin men niet
zeldzaam met het bloote oog onderscheidene schepen zien kan—het
dorp zelf is in zijn bevang mede zeer aangenaam gelegen, ter oorzaake
van deszelfs boomrijkheid, die zeer groot is, waardoor het op sommige
plaatsen het aanzien van eene aangenaame lusthof bekomt.
Weleer, gelijk blijkt, uit de brieven en raporten van Pieter
Corneliszoon Hooft, Bailluw van Gooiland, schijnen de inwooners,
over ’t geheel genomen, beantwoord te hebben, aan den algemeenen
aart der bewooneren van het Gooiland, die naamlijk vrij kregel van aart
waren; dan, sints een halve eeuw zijn zij aanmerkelijk ten goede
veranderd, en wanneer men het groot getal ingezetenen in ’t oog houdt,
zal men moeten erkennen, dat, in vergelijkinge van andere plaatsen, die
minder inwooners hebben, hier zelfs minder ongeregeldheden, dan wel
elders, gevonden worden—gewoonlijk zegt men ook dat de vrouwen veel
werks maaken van het tabaksrooken, doch dit is sedert een reeks van
jaaren mede zo zeer verminderd, dat deeze gewoonte nu nog slechts
onder eenigen der geringste vrouwlieden gevonden wordt; terwijl de
burgervrouwen het tabaksrooken zig, hier zowel als elders, tot eene
schande zouden rekenen: die van Hilversum, zo wel als de Goojers over
het algemeen, zijn van zeer oude tijden af bekend geweest voor een
strijdbaar volk: uit zeker handschrift van een’ schoolmeester te Naarden,
vinden wij desaangaande aangetekend, dat zij in buitenlandsche
oorlogen aangenomen werden; daar zij alle andere volken in ervarenheid
van krijgskunde te boven gingen, en onder de geoefendste krijgslieden
gesteld werden: „dat zij, of tot lijfwachten der veldheeren werden
verkozen, of in de voorste spits pal stonden in eenen veldslag; dat zij
dubbelde soldij trokken, de slagordes aanvoerden, de krijgsamten
bekleedden, en, in ’t kort, voor dapperder dan alle anderen gerekend
werden: in de oorlogen hunner Vorsten tegen Gelderland, Vrankrijk, en
van de Keizeren tegen de Turken, of eenigen anderen magtigen vijand,
werden zij, op milde bezolding, ten strijde ontboden; zo dat zij, volgends
dit verhaal, [3]ten allen tijde, bewijs gegeven hebben van hunne
onversaagdheid.”

NAAMSOORSPRONG.

Hier van vinden wij niets aangetekend, en hebben er ook, niet

tegenstaande alle mogelijke navorsching, niets van kunnen ontdekken;
waarom wij dit artijkel verder met stilzwijgen moeten voorbijgaan.
 STICHTING en GROOTTE.

Zo weinig als van de naamsoorsprong des dorps geweten wordt, zo

weinig wordt ook geweten van deszelfs stichting; dit is zeker, gelijk uit
voorige handvesten en resolutien der oude Graaven en Hertogen blijkt,
dat Hilversum mede een oud Dorp is, en het is hoogstwaarschijnelijk dat
het zijn begin genomen heeft met herdershutten, terwijl de gelegenheid
des lands allergeschiktst was voor de schaaphoederij: deze gedachte
wordt alleraanneemelijkst gemaakt, door zekere gadering, welke hier
éénmaal ’s jaars geschiedt, onder den naam van Schotgeld, en, dat
bijzonder is, ’t geen elk betaalen moet, is uitgedrukt met zekere tekens, ’t
welk in die oude tijden voor ieder duidelijk was—wat de grootte des
Dorps betreft, de platte betimmerde grond wordt ten minsten op 50
morgen gesteld—de bebouwde gronden welken het Dorp omringen op
800 morgen, de gemeene weiden op circa 500 morgen; voords nog
gedeeltelijk bouw- en gedeeltelijk wei land, aan onderscheidenen op
erfpacht uitgegeven, zamen min of meer 500 morgen, behalven een zeer
aanzienlijke streek, zogenaamde Maatlanden, gelegen onder de banne
van Hilversum aan de Zuiderzee, welke zonder andere bemesting, dan
die welken de zeevloeden ’s winters aanbrengen, jaarlijks aanmerkelijk
grasgewas opleveren: eindelijk zullen de onbebouwde heigronden bijna
2000 morgen uitmaaken—Het getal der huizen wordt in de
verpondingslijst van den jaare 1732 gesteld op 463. en daar dat getal op
die lijst van honderd jaaren vroeger, (1632.) slechts 146 is, en er thans
reeds 500 opstaan, waarbij nog eenigen, binnen weinig tijds gebouwden,
gevoegd zullen worden, getuigt zulks van den ongemeenen bloei des
dorps in de gezegde jaaren: deeze bloei heeft het onder anderen [4]te
danken aan de landbouwerij, waarvan wij boven reeds spraken; en die
ongetwijfeld nog vrij aanzienlijker zoude weezen, ware het niet dat het
bereiden van de heigronden ter bebouwinge, groote zwaarigheid
inhadde, of liever groote moeite en kosten vereischte, en daarom te
weinig voordgezet wierd: en wat zou het gevolg daarvan weezen? wat
anders, dan dit zo heilzaame, dat er duizende handen, welken nu, door
gebrek aan arbeid, in ledigheid verstijven, bezigheid, en de zamenleeving
eene vrij meerdere hoeveelheid van landvruchten aangeschaft zoude
worden; er zoude altoos nog genoeg heigronden, die geheel ongeschikt
zijn ter bebouwinge, voor de weiding der schaapen overblijven—de
ondervinding heeft tog, ook in deeze omtrek, geleerd, hoe de grond, wèl
bearbeid en bemest, bijna nergens geheel ondankbaar is; (zie onze
beschrijving van ’s Graaveland bladz. 15.)—Hilversum is zijnen bloei
mede verschuldigd aan de weeverijen, welken aldaar sedert langen tijde
zijn geweest.

De bewooners van dit Dorp worden begroot te bestaan op agt honderd

huisgezinnen, waaronder Gereformeerden, Roomschen, Jansenisten, en
zes-en-twintig Joodschen.

WAPEN.

Dit is een groen veld, en op hetzelve vier boekwijt-korrels.

KERKLIJKE en GODSDIENSTIGE GEBOUWEN.

De Gereformeerde Kerk, welke hier in de eerste plaatst in aanmerking

komt, is een gebouw van welks eerste stichting men niets weet;
sommigen willen, dat dezelve van ouds een parochiekerk, en aan St.
Vitus toegewijd was: in 1766 was de voorgaande Kerk, op slechts de
muuren na, met het voornaamste gedeelte des dorps, door de vlamme
verteerd geworden, (zie hier achter artijkel geschiedenissen:) het
tegenwoordig gebouw, dat op zondag den 3 Julij 1768 ingewijd werd,
door den toenmaaligen leeraar Johannes Wilhelmus van Yssum, is
zeer net en in alles aan het oogmerk beantwoordende: het zelve is breed
49, en lang 74 voeten, behalven het choor, het welk breed 26, en lang
39½ voeten is—van binnen pronkt de kerk met een goed orgel, waar bij
een orchest dat op twee nette colommen rust; hetzelve orgel is
vervaardigd door Abraham Meere, orgelmaker te Utrecht: men vindt
daar op 16½ Registers, 2 Clavieren, en een aangehangen pedaal, en is
door den [5]tegenwoordigen Leeraar, Gode en zijnen dienst toegewijd den
30 Julij 1788 2—binnen in de kerk vindt men voords een fraajen
predikstoel, drie groote koperen kaarskroonen, noodige banken voor
Regeering, Kerkenraad en andere persoonen, en meer dan 200 vrouwen
stoelen, behalven nog een gedistingueerde bank voor den Bailluw van
Gooiland, en 2 banken voor de Heeren van de buitenplaatsen van ’s
Graavenland.

Wat het uitwendige des gebouws betreft, het pronkt met een spitsen
toren, en staat op een groot kerkhof dat met een’ muur omgeeven is: in
deezen muur, tegen over den ingang van de kerk, is een vry aanzienlijk
ijzeren hek, tusschen twee vierkanten steenen pijlaaren: boven op de
pijlaaren staat, op die aan de linkerzijde, het wapen van Holland, en op
het andere het dorpswapen bovengemeld; beiden door leeuwen
gehouden: op het voorste vlak der pijlaaren, boven aan, is, ter eene zijde,
uitgehouwen een schip, en ter andere zijde een wereldkloot: onder het
schip leest men den naam van Jan Jansz. Perk, en onder de
wereldkloot, Japje Rijkse Nagel: deeze waren echte lieden, en hebben
het gezegde hek aan de kerk geschonken: zijnde hetzelve in den brand
van 1766 onbeschadigd gebleeven.

Terwijl wij thans van kerk en kerkhof spreeken, kunnen wij niet af tevens
melding te maaken van de nieuwe buitenbegraafplaats, welke hier ter
plaatse gevonden wordt; en zeker niet weinig ten bewijze dient, hoe de
ingezetenen deezer plaatse wel te leiden zijn, indien men voorzichtiglijk
handelt, en den weg van overreding met hun inslaat: dit heilzaame werk
heeft zijn volkomen beslag gekreegen, en ’t geen niet weinig
verwondering baart bij hen die weeten, hoe het grootste deel der
ingezetenen den Roomschen Godsdienst is toegedaan; allen, zonder
onderscheid, hebben een bijna veertienhonderdjaarig vooroordeel
[6]weeten afteleggen, door hunne lijken niet meer binnen het Dorp en de
Kerk, maar buiten hetzelve te laaten begraaven——Deeze begraafplaats
ligt even buiten het Dorp; derzelver lengte is 354, en breedte 66 voeten
Rhijnlandsche maat; zij is omringd met eenen muur, 6 voeten boven den
grond; de ingang van deezen buitenhof is in het midden voorzien van een
ijzeren hek, op welks pilasters de woorden Gedenkt te sterven, geleezen
worden: tegen over dit hek vindt men een graf- of gedenk-naald op
eenen kleinen heuvel van groene zooden: op de grafnaald ziet men,
behalven een doodshoofd en twee schinkels in eene nis geplaatst, deeze
inscriptie: Het stof keert weder tot aarde, gelijk het geweest is, en de
geest weder tot God die hem gegeven heeft, en daar onder Salomon
——De toegang tot deeze stille rustplaats der dooden is, als eene alléé,
beplant met een dubbelde rei van ijpen- en sparren-boomen, terwijl alles
in de volkomenste orde, en zo zindelijk gehouden wordt, dat ook deeze
buitenbegraafplaats, liggende tusschen het golvend koorn, in veele
opzichten, naar eenen hof gelijkt; zij staat onder bijzonder opzicht van
eenen Opziener en Boekhouder—Op den eersten dag van het jaar 1793
heeft men ’t eerste lijk aldaar gebragt, waarbij Regeering en Kerkenraad
adsisteerden; en van dien tijd af, tot heden toe, heeft men alle de lijken
op deeze nieuwe begraafplaats geborgen; terwijl de Heeren Staaten van
Holland en Westvriesland niet alléén vrijheid hadden gegeeven om de
graven der kerk te sluiten, ieders graf of graven op deeze buitenhof te
verplaatsen, maar ook gaven zij dispensatie, van het geen Art. 15 van de
ordonnantie op het middel van trouwen en begraaven, in dato 26 October
1695, is gestatueerd, zo dat van de lijken van buiten naar Hilversum
vervoerd wordende, niet meer dan ééns, en wel ter plaatse van het
overlijden, ’s Lands recht behoeft betaald te worden——onderscheidene
graven zijn reeds aan aanzienlijke lieden, buiten deeze plaats, verkocht,
en er doet zig niet weinig hoops op, of deeze begraafplaats die vooral om
deszelfs hooge ligging (daar men veilig stellen mag dat zij meer dan 30 a
40 voeten boven het water ligt) boven anderen, welke in ons Vaderland
gevonden worden, verre te verkiezen is, zal weldra hoe langer hoe meer
van elk gezocht worden——Digt bij de grafnaald, ziet men een graf, met
een groote zerk, [7]waar op de naam van Jan Abraham Dedel, 1793—
De conditien, waar op men recht tot een graf kan bekomen, benevens
het bericht, worden, behalven hier ter plaatse, ook te Amsteldam, (gratis,)
uitgegeven bij de Boekverkoopers W. Holtrop in de Kalverstraat, D. en
J. Dol, in de Oudenbrugsteeg, en H. Brongers over de Beurs—welk
rechtgeaart Vaderlander wenscht deeze plaats, met zulk eene nuttige
inrichting, niet van harten geluk! en wie, die slechts eenige
menschenliefde in zijn binnenste koestert, verlangt niet hartlijk, dat men,
vooral in volkrijke plaatsen in ons Vaderland, aan zulk een heilzaam werk
eens eindlijk de handen slaan mag——en gaan Regenten met hun goed
voorbeeld voor, weldra zal men dan ook, gelijk wij vertrouwen,
ondervinden, zo als men hier te Hilversum ondervonden heeft, dat de
ingezetenen niet zo gehecht zijn aan voorouderlijke gewoonten en
vooroordeelen, of zij zijn, wanneer men hun op eene bescheidene wijze
het wanvoegelijke en schadelijke onder ’t oog brengt, ook in staat om
dezelve te bestrijden en te overwinnen.

De pastorij is in een zeer goeden staat, dezelve is een zeer spacieus

gebouw van den jaare 1767, met een goede tuin er achter; en, daar het
woonverblijf van den Predikant, vóór den geweldigen brand van 1766
kort bij de kerk en toren was, bijna zonder eenig uitzicht, is de
tegenwoordige pastorij geplaatst voor aan den weg, die naar ’s
Graaveland, Soestdijk enz. leidt, en om de menigvuldige passage een
alleraangenaamst uitzicht heeft.

Het Schoolhuis ligt aan de andere zijde der kerk; en is in alles aan het
oogmerk beantwoordende.

Op het dorp is voords een vrij aanzienlijk weeshuis, in 1786, door den
braaven Amsterdammer, de Heer H. Hovie, om zijne onbepaalde
menschlievendheid en mededeelzaamheid aan de armen zo bekend als
bemind, opgericht; het getal der inwooners van dit huis, zo ouden als
jongen, is tegenwoordig 71, waar onder er bijna 50 zijn, voor welken de
voornoemde menschenvriend betaalt; terwijl zijn Ed. verder op allerleie
wijze in den nood van dit huis voorziet—Dit weeshuis wordt geregeerd
door 2 Regenten en 2 Regentessen, die eene vader en moeder onder zig
hebben.

De Roomschen hebben er eene goede statie, die bediend wordt door

een’ Pastoor en een’ Kapellaan: de Pastoor is thans [8]de Wel Eerwaarde
Heer Wilhelmus Holscher——de Roomschen moesten te voren
hunnen godsdienst buiten de plaats verrichten, en gingen daar toe
meestal naar Laren of Bussem, doch in den jaare 1784 den 23
September hebben zij, op verzoek, permissie bekomen tot het bouwen
eener kerk 3, ’t welk een groot en fraai gebouw is—naast het kerkgebouw
ziet men de pastorij, zijnde zeer net betimmerd, en met allerleie
gemakken voorzien—achter het huis en kerk ligt een zeer schoone
moestuin, fraai bosch en engelsche tuin——het getal der Roomschen
alhier, zo oud als jong, wordt bepaald op 18 a 1900 zielen.

Ook is hier een talrijke Janseniste gemeente, die op 700 leden berekend
wordt: deeze wordt mede bediend door een’ Pastoor, en een’ Kapellaan,
zijnde thans Pastoor de eerwaardige, Heer J. B. E. Gijselinck: de kerk
is ook een net gebouw, en in alles aan het oogmerk beantwoordende, de
Pastorij is een tamelijk goed huis, waar achter een redelijk goede tuin.

De Jooden hebben te Hilversum een kleine maar zeer nette Sijnagoge, (’t
welk zekerlijk voor een dorp iet zonderlings genoemd mag worden:)
dezelve pronkt met een aartig torentjen, doch zonder klok daarin: deeze
sijnagoge is ingewijd, 21 Augustus 1789.

WERELDLIJKE GEBOUWEN.

Het rechthuis is hier niet, gelijk op veele andere dorpen, met een herberg
vereenigd; het maakt van binnen en buiten een zeer goede vertooning,
en is kort na den brand van het jaar 1766 opgebouwd: van vooren heeft
het een hoge stoep, die aan wederzijde elf treden heeft, en met een
ijzere leuning voorzien is—in ’t midden ligt een’ gang, ter wederzijde van
welken de noodige kamers gevonden worden; boven ieder vertrek vindt
men met vergulde letteren, voorwien hetzelve geschikt is—beneden is de
wooning van den Dienaar der Justitie; het vertrek voor de Nachtwacht
(die hier zo wel des zomers als ’s winters gehouden wordt) en eindelijk
de Gijzelkamer—het gebouw is rondom voorzien met engelsche
schuifraamen—boven op de lijst van den voorgevel staat het
Hilversumsche wapen: het gebouw pronkt voords met een torentjen,
waarin ook een klok hangt. [9]

KERKLIJKE REGEERING.

De Gereformeerde Gemeente te Hilversum uit meer dan 900 menschen,

zo oud als jong, bestaande, wordt bediend door éénen Predikant, zijnde
thans de Wel-eerwaarde Heer Fredericus Ham, behoorende onder de
Classis van Amsteldam: de Kerkenraad bestaat uit den Predikant
voornoemd, 2 Ouderlingen en 2 Diaconen, waarvan jaarlijks één
Ouderling en één Diacon afgaat, en door anderen vervangen worden;
ook zijn hier twee Kerkmeesters, waarvan ’er jaarlijks één afgaat.

WERELDLIJKE REGEERING.

Deeze is even als op genoegzaam alle de Gooische dorpen: de Hooge

Vierschaar wordt er gespannen door den Bailluw met de Schepenen van
Naarden; voords bestaat de civile Regeering in den Schout en vijf
Schepenen; er zijn ook twee Buurtmeesters, en 4 Raaden, welke laatsten
gewoonlijk uit elk quartier van het Dorp gekozen worden; de Schout, en
de jongst in dienst zijnde Buurtmeester, stellen ieder een getal van vijf
persoonen, uit welk tiental, door den Bailluw vijf nieuwe Schepenen, in
plaats van die in het voorgaande jaar geregeerd hebben, verkozen
worden, welke vijf nieuwe Schepenen, onder den eed gebragt zijnde,
eenen nieuwen Buurtmeester, in plaats van den oudsten in dienst zijnde,
verkiezen—vervolgends gaat men over tot het verkiezen van vier nieuwe
Raaden, eenen Kerkmeester, enz.

Het schijnt dat het Dorp Laaren weleer met Hilversum onder een zelfd
Gerecht behoord heeft; immers in 1423 kreegen die van Hilversum een
handvest van Hertog Jan van Beiëren, waarin hij niet alleen aan den
Bailluw het recht geeft, om, jaarlijks, op Vrouwendag, vijf Schepenen
voor Hilversum te kiezen, maar tevens ook spreekt van eene
banscheiding te maaken tusschen Larenkerspel en Hilversum; „doch de
Schepenen van beiden deeze Kerspelen zouden zamen de breuken
berechten in het Gooiland, terwijl de beesten, waardoor misbruik in het
bosch gebeurd was, verborgd zoude worden bij goeddunken van
Schepenen in den Dorpe, daar de eigenaar woonachtig was, en
Schepenen van Hilversum zouden hun eigen Land en hunne Meente- of
Gemeente-weiden keuren, en berechten, gelijk die van Laaren voormaals
plagten te doen.”
Dit is zeker, (voegt onze geëerde begunstiger daar bij,) dat [10]Hilversum
met Laren in het kerklijke te vooren is gecombineerd geweest; de
scheiding is geschied in 1605.

VOORRECHTEN.

De Hilversumsche gemeente verkiest zelve haaren Leeraar——de

regeerende Kerkenraad, vereenigd met de laatst afgegaane Ouderling en
Diacon, formeert een twaalftal, en daar uit een nominatie van vier
Predikanten, uit welk viertal, door de mans ledemaaten, in de kerk daar
toe bijeenvergaderd, eenen nieuwen Leeraar verkozen wordt——of men
de zogenaamde Buurtspraaken, ook als een bijzonder voorrecht kan
aanmerken, kan niet zeker gezegd worden, maar dit weeten wij uit
onderscheidene aantekeningen, die daarvan ter deezer plaatse nog
voorhanden zijn, dat voortijds in gewigtige gevallen, vooral dan wanneer
het op de kasse des Dorps aankwam, ’t zij door den Bailluw, ’t zij door de
Buurtmeesters, het volk geraadpleegd werd, hoe daar in te handelen,
terwijl de gemeente zonder onderscheid van godsdienst, in de kerk werd
bijeenvergaderd, waarin de zaak voorgesteld en met meerderheid van
stemmen daar omtrent gehandeld wierd.

Eindelijk moeten wij hier nog melding maaken van het voorrecht der
Hilversummers op het stuk der Erfgoojers, (zie onze beschrijving van
Laaren:) de Hilversumsche meent of weide ligt aan de Noordzijde van ’s
Graaveland, is groot, gelijk wij boven zeiden, circa 500 morgen, door de
runderpest, welke weleer zo streng hier te land woedde, was dezelve in
merkelijk verval geraakt, dan thans is dezelve in een veel beteren staat,
terwijl men daar op niet zelden 600 beesten telt, ’t geen een beter
inkomen tot onderhoud oplevert——ieder erfgoojer, hier woonende, heeft
het recht daar op te mogen brengen 5 koejen, en een paard, en voor
ieder beest, betaalen zij, alle onkosten door elkanderen gerekend, twee
guldens——volgends resolutie op Stad en Landen genomen, hebben de
Hilversummers, tot herstelling van hunne in vorige jaaren zo vervallen
meente, de vrijheid, om van de inwooners der andere Gooische Dorpen,
doch Erfgoojers zijnde, jaarlijks eenige veersen en pinken aanteneemen.
Over deeze meent zijn gesteld twee Schaarmeesters, die, terwijl hier een
molen op deeze meent gevonden wordt, ook wel Molenmeesters
genoemd worden—deeze menschen hebben het opzicht over de molen,
merken het vee, ’t welk op de meent [11]gebragt wordt, en ontvangen de
penningen, waarvan zij jaarlijks voor de Regeering des Dorps
verantwoording doen moeten.

Verder heeft men hier 4 Bekeurders, die vooral het opzicht hebben over
de gemeene gronden, om wel toetezien, dat hiervan door niemand eenig
misbruik gemaakt worde: oudtijds werden deeze menschen
boschbewaarders genoemd, onder welke benaaming zij nog jaarlijks
worden aangesteld, zekerlijk om dat zij in vorige eeuwen het opzicht
gehad hebben over een zeker bosch, gelegen tusschen de bouwlanden
van Hilversum en de landen van Maartensdijk, het welk geschat wordt
groot geweest te zijn 314 morgen; doch welk bosch bijna geheel reeds
verdweenen was, in het begin der zeventiende eeuw———zonderling is
het, dat thans hiervan geen overblijfsel meer gevonden wordt, echter
heeft de landstreek, die tegenwoordig bergachtig en met heide begroeid
is, nog den naam van Goojerbosch behouden.

BEZIGHEDEN.

Deezen bestaan voornaamlijk in de weverijen—vóór het jaar 1766

werden hier meestal lakenweverijen gevonden, die voor rekening liepen
van Amsteldamsche Kooplieden, dan thans zijn dezelve geheel vervallen
—de ingezetenen zijn niet onvernuftig in het uitvinden, van dat geen ’t
welk tot hun bestaan dienen kan; bijzonder houdt men zig thans op met
het weeven van zogenaamd Hilversumsch wit en gestreept—sinds
eenige jaaren is men ook hier met goed succes begonnen met het
weeven van gang-kleeden en karpetten, welke fabriek meer en meer
toeneemt—ook vindt men hier een fabriek van Doorniksche kleeden, en
Schotsche tapijten, waar mede de gebroeders Reijn niet weinig roems
behaald hebben, terwijl de Oeconomische Tak van Haarlem, tot
aanmoediging, eerst per el, ’t welk gedebiteerd werd, twee stuivers, daar
na één stuiver geschonken hebben, het geen binnen weinige jaaren eene
somma van meer dan drie duizend gulden bedragen heeft—welke fabriek
tot nog toe met goed gevolg aan den gang is; als mede die van éénen
Petrus Haan, die sinds 2 a 3 jaaren dezelve fabriek begonnen, en ook
voorleden jaar in de vergadering van den Oeconomische tak niet weinig
roems behaald heeft—men telt hier 76 fabrikeurs, en men rekent dat er
ruim 500 getouwen aan den gang zijn—in [12]meer dan ééne droevige
omstandigheid van ons dierbaar Vaderland, waarin elders fabrieken
kwijnden, zijn de Hilversumsche fabrieken boven anderen voorspoedig
gegaan, dan, indien het oorlog nog lange moet blijven voordduuren, is er
reden om te vreezen, dat dezelve ook wel rasch aan het kwijnen
geraaken zullen; en hier door zoude niet alleen deeze plaats, maar ook
eenige omliggende, eenen gevoeligen slag worden toegebragt, terwijl te
Amersfoort voor die van Hilversum, veel wol gesponnen wordt, in de
omliggende Dorpen katoen, en bijzonder te Laaren het hair, waarom ook
van daar bijna ieder dag een vrachtwagen komt, waarmede de specie
gehaald, en het afgewerkte t’huis gebragt wordt—men vindt hier ook aan
het einde der Gooische vaart een loojerij, die niet onvoorspoedig is—
verder telt men hier 60 a 70 boerderijen.

GESCHIEDENISSEN,

Deezen vinden wij, voor zoo veel het vroegere gedeelte daarvan betreft,
kortlijk dus beschreven: „In de tweespalt, tusschen Holland en
Gelderland, terwijl Filips van Oostenrijk, nu Koning van Spanje
geworden, naar Duitschland gereisd was, deed Hertog Karel van
Egmond, die zijnen eisch op Gelderland levendig hield, in den jaare
1505, eenen inval in Gooiland, en verbrandde het dorp Hilversum, zonder
dat hij echter groote buit van de inwooneren kreeg, alzo dezelven met
alle hunne goederen weggevlugt waren.”

„Het jaar 1672 was mede voor dit dorp zeer ongelukkig; in het laatst van
de maand September, werd het door de Franschen geheel en al
uitgeplonderd, en alles wat zij niet konden wegneemen, vernield.”
Wat de laatere geschiedenis des dorps betreft, deeze is niet minder
ongelukkig: op den eersten mai 1725 ontstond te Hilversum een zwaaren
brand, waar door meer dan 50 huizen in de assche gelegd werden—dan,
dit alles was nog weinig bij de ramp, welke deeze plaats in het jaar 1766
door den brand geleden heeft—het was op den 25 junij van het gemelde
jaar, ’s namiddags tusschen een en twee uuren, dat dees geweldige
brand eenen aanvang nam, en, ’t geen opmerkelijk is, juist in het zelfde
huis, waarin de voorige brand ontstaan was, waarin thans een Joodsche
Vleeschhouwer woonde; één van zijne huisgenooten, zegt men, had de
onvoorzichtigheid gehad, om eenen [13]aschpot met vuur te digt bij
brandbaare stof of hooi te zetten——weldra was alles in beweeging, om,
ware het mogelijk, den brand in deszelfs beginselen te stuiten; dan eene
sterke oostenwind op eene langduurende droogte volgdende, verijdelde
alle de pogingen der werkzaame ingezetenen—het vuur werd met een
ongelooflijk geweld door de lucht heen gevoerd, ’t geen als een regen op
de huizen nederviel, en daardoor dezelve, die toen meest allen in het
dorp met riet gedekt waren, zelfs op eenen verren afstand, weldra in
vlam zettede, zodat veelen van hun, welke, geen gevaar voor hunne
eigene wooningen vreezende, en die tot hulpe van anderen waren
toegeschooten, spoedig de droevige tijding ontvingen, dat ook hunne
woningen door de vlam waren aangestoken——binnen weinig uuren
waren meer dan 150 huizen, en een aantal schuuren, gevuld met koorn
en andere goederen, behalven het raadhuis, de pastorij, ’t schoolhuis, en
de kerk, waarin eenige ingezetenen hunne goederen geborgen hadden,
doch die ook een prooi der vlamme werden, in de assche gelegd:
allerakeligst was de toestand der ingezetenen; van alles beroofd zworven
zij als raadeloos tusschen de puinhoopen van hunne ingestorte
wooningen door: duizenden lieden van de omliggende plaatsen, maar
vooral van Amsteldam, zakten derwaards om het jammerlijk tooneel van
verwoesting in oogenschouw te neemen, niet alleen, maar ook om de
geruïneerde inwooners, ieder naar zijn vermogen, met eene gifte te
vertroosten; en zo ergens, ter dier plaatse, en in die allerjammerlijkste
omstandigheid, heeft de Barmhartigheid haare hand in zegening
geopend; want de meeste inwooners waren van geheel hunne
bezittingen en middelen van bestaan beroofd.
Niet lang na deezen brand, werden eenigen uit de Regeering van
Hilversum afgezonden, om bij Hun Ed. Gr. Mog. verlof te verzoeken tot
het doen eener collecte, welke gedeputeerden zig naar den Prins
Erfstadhouder begaven, om zijne hooge intercessie in deezen te
verzoeken, ’t welk hun door Zijn Doorl. Hoogheid niet alleen terstond
beloofd werd, maar daar en boven ontvingen zij van Zijne Hoogheid, tot
ondersteuning der ongelukkige ingezetenen, de somma van duizend
ducaaten—weldra kreeg men verlof, om zig te mogen vervoegen aan de
Regeeringen in de Steden en Dorpen, tot het verzoeken van vrijheid om
eene collecte te doen, ’t geen bijna overal zeer wel geslaagd is: in
Amsteldam alleen werd gecollecteerd ƒ 54605–19–2; in de gantsche
provincie van Holland, bragt de collecte op eene somma van ƒ 100739–
5–0; in de provincie Utrecht collecteerde men zamen ƒ 7560–:–14, dit
gevoegd bij de voorgaande somme, bedroeg de generale collecte
ƒ 108299–6–8: niet weinig hielp zekerlijk zulk een aanmerkelijke som,
dan dezelve was echter niet toereikende tot eene volkomene vergoeding
der schade, terwijl ieder, welke met eene beëedigde verklaring [14]zijn
verlies moest opgeven, en van de collecte profiteeren wilde, van elken
gulden omtrent zes stuivers en zes penningen ontvangen heeft: gelukkig
intusschen dat de zulken zig niet alleen verbinden moesten tot de
opbouwing van hunne afgebrande woningen, maar ook dat hunne
huizen, volgends de resolutie van gecomm. Raaden, met pannen gedekt
moesten worden: eene wijze voorzorg voorzeker! daar tog de
ondervinding in het jaar 1766 te Hilversum geleerd heeft, hoe de brand,
doordien de meeste huizen met riet gedekt waren, niet te blusschen was,
en men integendeel ten dien tijde sommige huizen, waaronder zelfs het
koepeltjen der pastorij, om dat zij met pannen gedekt waren, schoon zij
van alle zijden als omringd waren van de vlam, heeft kunnen behouden.

Verder wierd de Regeering van Hilversum tot opbouw der publieke

gebouwen, nog toegelegd door hun Ed. Gr. Mog. gelijk wij verneemen uit
het geestlijk comptoir, eene somma van tien duizend guldens—terwijl
daarteboven de Heeren Staaten van Holland en Westvriesland vrijdom
vergunden, van ordinaire en extraordinaire verpondingen van de
afgebrande huizen, voor den tijd van 20 jaaren, als mede van den impost