CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION _Yonder lies our ...

village--Art and Grace are less and less:_ _Science grows and Beauty dwindles--roofs of slated hideousness!_ -- LOCKSLEY HALL, SIXTY YEARS AFTER Those who love with a deep reverence the work of their forefathers, whether because of the character and beauty of their handiwork, or from the historical associations which are indissolubly connected with it, cannot but regard with pain and abhorrence any cause which tends towards the demolition or destruction of the monuments of the past.

To these it is a significant and distressing fact that hardly any modern English buildings or streets possess the qualities which give the value and charm to the old cities, towns, and villages of which we are the grateful inheritors.

If any reader is inclined to doubt the truth of this statement, or to consider the sentiment expressed extravagant or groundless, let him consider the difference between the old towns and the new.
Evesham provides a typical and sufficiently striking instance of the contrasted methods and results.

Here there is hardly an old house which has not a local and individual character.