Hagley Historical and Field Society

The speaker at our February meeting, Keith Cattell, is well known to the Society and the large audience knew they were in for an entertaining evening.  Keith, a retired architect, had come to talk on “The English House” and in little more than an hour we were treated to an authoritative and often humorous account of houses from the Conquest to the present day.  Using familiar examples of both high status and vernacular buildings, Keith took us through the fascinating tale of evolution from Norman halls, half-timbered houses, converted monasteries and Georgian town houses to many of the excesses of the Victorian period, when anything from Egyptian to Italianate and Gothic seemed to be in vogue.  In his all too brief time, Keith also managed to have a look at furniture and bathrooms, prefabs and even took a peek into the future.  This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with excellent photography and sparkling commentary.