Learning
and
Teaching

EH3107/3607
Victorian Cities

Staff contact: Richard Rodger

The module explores the structures of power and authority that affected the changing production and use of private and public space in British cities during the nineteenth century. A central aim of the module is to understand the distinctive elements of urban life in Victorian Britain, and to do so through contemporary accounts, images, and buildings. 'Reading the city', therefore, is not confined to secondary works and students will be encouraged to use a variety of sources to understand the social, economic, political and cultural forces that affected what became the majority experience for Britain - an urban lifestyle.

The aims and objectives of the module are:

• To encourage students to make connections between different aspects of social, economic, cultural and political history in the setting of British cities c.1800- 1914.
• To use primary sources - texts, buildings, pictures, testimony, data - to understand how the history of the period has been constructed.
• To understand the context of problems in our contemporary cities.
• To develop communication skills, both oral and written, and to enhance critical awareness

• Reading/Essays/Tutorials
• Links from the reading list:
  • Urbanisation Website: http://www.le.ac.uk/esh/teach/urban/contents.htm
    • Morris, R. J. ‘Urban Theory: http://www.le.ac.uk/esh/teach/urban/core1/content1.htm
    • Rodger, R.. ‘Built Environment overview : http://www.le.ac.uk/esh/teach/urban/core2/content2.htm
    • Rodger, R. ‘Built Environment: http://www.le.ac.uk/esh/teach/urban/core2/content2.htm
    • Meller, H. ‘The Culture of Cities’: http://www.le.ac.uk/esh/teach/urban/core5/content5.htm
  • Census Data:
    • By ranked population: urban.xls
    • By population: towns.xls

External Web Sites

• Port Sunlight:
  • http://www.vwlowen.demon.co.uk/wirral/sunlight.htm
  • http://www.portsunlight.org.uk/history/index.htm
     
• Edinburgh's Colonies:
  • http://humanities.uwe.ac.uk/corehistorians/urban/core2/text/housesa.htm#Titl
     
• Victorian Slums:
  • http://www.le.ac.uk/ur/eu-ma/argue/slumhome.html 
  • Charles Booth
  • Victorian Cities

Local Resources

Note: Excel Files should be saved to your disk. To do this click on the link with the Right mouse button and choose Save Target As...

• Urbanisation in Nineteenth Century Britain (TLTP)
   
• Towns Data (Excel File)
   
• Housing:
  • Edinburgh's New Town and the Enlightenment
  • The Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes 1885
  • Bibliography
     
• Parks and Built Environment
  • Main Municipal Parks 1840-1885
  • Summary of Park Development 1800-1845
     
• Population
  • Population Growth and Composition 1801-1901
  • Decennial Increase of Population
  • Hierarchy of Towns by Rank
  • Table - Children born and surviving
  • Distribution of Population in England and Wales
  • Urban Population Growth by Decade (Excel File)
     
• Urban Administration and Government
  • Annotated Bibliography: Urban Administration
     
• Victorian Women
  • Bibliography
     
• Occupations and Work
  • % of Male workforce in Industry (Excel File)
  • Female Employ towns sectors (Excel File)
  • Male Employ towns sectors (Excel File)
  • Ratio Manufacturing v. Service employment (Excel File)
  • Industrial Distribution of the British Labour Force
  • Occupational Classifications: The Census Returns for England and Wales
  • Female Occupational Structure
  • Male Occupational Structure

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Last updated: 13 February 2003
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