Philip Wilkinson at English Buildings celebrates the Oxfordshire village of Great Tew:
The village is actually the creation of the early-19th century, when the estate was remodelled and the village became a star feature in the landscape. Thatched roofs were fitted or repaired, Gothic details added to the cottages, trees and hedges planted. The result is an uncanny combination of model estate village and old England.But there is more to the village's story than that. I visited Great Tew nearly 30 years ago and many of the cottages were derelict; some even had trees growing up through their decaying roofs. This beautiful photograph, taken from TrekEarth, captures the eerie atmosphere Great Tew had in those days.
Today, by all accounts, the cottages have been restored and sold to the weekending classes.
Thanks for linking to my blog entry on Great Tew. I too remember how the village was 30 or so ago. Some of the cottages were still lived in by people who had to cope with holes in the thatch and broken windows. It's very different now, but the presence of an apparently thriving village school suggests that the inhabitants can't ALL be weekenders.
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