In the Victoria History each county is not the labour of one or two men, but of many, 

 for the work is treated scientifically, and in order to embody in it all that modern scholarship 

 can contribute, a system of co-operation between experts and local students is applied, whereby 

 the history acquires a completeness and definite authority hitherto lacking in similar 

 undertakings. 



The names of the distinguished men who have joined the Advisory Council are a 

 guarantee that the work represents the results of the latest discoveries in every department 

 of research, for the trend of modern thought insists upon the intelligent study of the past 

 and of the social, institutional, and political developments of national life. As these histories 

 are the first in which this object has been kept in view, and modern principles applied, it is 

 hoped that they will form a work of reference no less indispensable to the student than 

 welcome to the man of culture. 



THE SCOPE OF THE WORK 



The history of each county is complete in itself, and in each case its story is told from the 

 earliest times, commencing with the natural features and the flora and fauna. Thereafter 

 follow the antiquities, pre-Roman, Roman, and post-Roman ; ancient earthworks ; a new 

 translation and critical study of the Domesday Survey ; articles on political, ecclesiastical, social, 

 and economic history ; architecture, arts, industries, sport, etc. ; and topography. The grea.ter 

 part of each histoiy is devoted to a detailed description and history of each parish, containing 

 an account of the land and its owners from the Conquest to the present day. These manorial 

 histories are compiled from original documents in the national collections and from private 

 papers. A special feature is the wealth of illustrations afforded,' for not only are buildings of 

 interest pictured, but the coats of arms of past and present landowners are given 



HISTORICAL RESEARCH 



It has always been, and still is, a reproach that England, with a collection of public 

 records greatly exceeding in extent and interest those of any other country in Europe, is yet 

 far behind her neighbours in the study of the genesis and growth of her national and local 

 institutions. Few Englishmen are probably aware that the national and local archives contain 

 for a period of 8oo years in an almost unbroken chain of evidence, not only the political, 

 ecclesiastical, and constitutional history of the kingdom, but every detail of its financial and 

 social progress and the history of the land and its successive owners from generation to 

 generation. The neglect of our public and local records is no doubt largely due to the fact 

 that their interest and value is known to but a small number of people, and this again is 

 directly attributable to the absence in this country of any endowment for historical research. 

 The government of this country has too often left to private enterprise work which our con- 

 tinental neighbours entrust to a government department. It is not surprising, therefore, to find 

 that although an immense amount of work has been done by individual eiFort, the entire 

 absence of organization among the workers and the lack of intelligent direction has hitherto 

 robbed the results of much of their value. 



In the Victoria History, for the first time, a serious attempt is made to utilize our 

 national and local muniments to the best advantage by carefully organizing and supervising 

 the researches required. Under the direction of the Records Committee a large staff of experts 

 has been engaged at the Public Record OflSce in calendaring those classes of records which are 

 fruitful in material for local history, and by a system of interchange of communication among 

 workers under the direct supervision of the general editor and sub-editors a mass of information 

 is sorted and assigned to its correct place, which would otherwise be impossible. 



THE RECORDS COMMITTEE 



Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, K.C.B. C. T. Martin, B.A., F.S.A. 



Sir Henry Maxwell-Lyte, K.C.B. J. Horace Round, M.A., LL.D. 



W. J. Hardy, F.S.A. S. R. Scargill-Bird, F.S.A. 



F. Madan, M.A. W. H. Stevenson, M.A. 



F. Maitland, M.A., F.S.A. G. F. Warner, M.A., F.S.A. 



viii 



