Development of the English Town

About the film

Development of the English Town takes us on a journey through the ages, examining the motivations of town-builders from the Iron Age to the 1940s, and extolling the virtues of 'modern' planning.

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Details

• Release year - 1942
• Director - Mary Field
• Production company - G.B. Instructional
• Cinematographer - Jack Parker
• Running time (minutes) - 16 mins 03 secs

Original description

The evolution of English town planning

'A survey of town planning in England from pre-Roman settlements to modern housing estates. Medieval feudal towns were fortified; eighteenth-century planning aimed at dignity and elegance. The chaos of the Industrial Revolution led to modern urban planning, the war of 1914 to new ideas of housing. Planning today has new problems and opportunities.'

(Films of Britain - British Council Film Department Catalogue - 1942-43)

Did you know?

• Locations featured include: Roman Calleva Atrebatum (near Silchester), Afriston (Sussex), Milnthorpe (Cumbria), Kendal, Norman Rye (near Hastings), Chipping Campden (near Evesham), Brighton, Bath, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Port Sunlight, Bournville, Letchworth, Welwyn Garden City, and many other unnamed locations, including Hanger Lane tube station.
• Development of the English town mentions Welwyn Garden City, which was 'finished' six years after this film, in 1948.
• The market square seen at 02 mins 21 secs is the village of Alfriston, Sussex. A popular location choice for the British Council Film Collection, the village also appears in both Make Fruitful the Land and The People’s Land.

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