The Invention of the English Historic Town: The Place of Vernacular Architecture, ca . 1780–1850

Abstract Focusing on case studies of Shrewsbury, Chester, York, Coventry, and Bristol, this article analyzes how the concept of the “historic town” emerged in the first half of the nineteenth century. Traditionally a town’s historic identity had been understood in a legal and institutional sense. By the end of the eighteenth century, however, the use of the term “ancient” or “historic” to describe a town had become less a claim to long-standing privileges and traditional importance than an indication of a particular appearance and atmosphere, redolent of an era that was increasingly referred to as “the olden time.” A historic town offered the promise of a certain kind of historical experience and ambience that could be strategically exploited in order to attract visitors, and their custom, in greater numbers. The “invention” of the historic town was most obviously a response to the rapid changes consequent upon urbanization. But we need also to consider other factors, including changing attitudes toward the past and the broader consumption of history; developments in architectural history, particularly a new appreciation for the vernacular domestic architecture of the early modern period; and the rise of domestic tourism, facilitated by the advent of railway travel. Finally, the invention of the historic town is also a story about the early origins of heritage and the emergence of a preservationist ethos.