The Victoria County History (VCH) was founded in 1899 and dedicated to Queen Victoria. The VCH was created to produce an encyclopaedic national history in a series of volumes which cover, county by county, and parish by parish, the general and detailed history of England from earliest times to the present . By 1914, 6 counties had been completed and 80 volumes produced. Here is an extract from some publicity material, produced for the VCH in that same year:
There is not a stone or field in the country round us but can yield a tale of deepest interest, not a parish without its historical associations, not a town or village that does not in its story or structure, in some way, characterise the growth and development of its inhabitants. To realize the wonder and interest lying behind the outward appearance of our surroundings is to double the pleasure we take in them. And here indeed is the aim and object of the Victoria County History - to bring home to every man all that may be learned from the study of that district in which he lives. A man's interest in his land, in his native country, in the corner of England which chance has brought him to dwell in, may not be awakened by a mere string of names and dates, but it is there to awaken when the past story of town and field is brought to him as a living thing coloured in all its strange and many hues.
From: 1914, Record of a Great National Undertaking
(VCH Archives)
Thirteen county sets have been completed. Work continues in 13 counties and there are several more where we are about to resume work or would like to if funding was available.
When complete, the VCH will record the authentic factual history of every city, town and village in England. All the information in the VCH is compiled by professional historians, based in the counties they are researching, who work systematically from original historical documents. From this research they write the history of the town, parish, or individual theme which is to appear in their next county volume. The completed work is edited at the VCH's central office, housed in the University of London's Institute of Historical Research, and it is here that the production and publication process begins.
If you want to begin to explore the history of your own community, the VCH is the place to start. We are currently publishing about three new volumes every year and this year (2004) sees the publication of Somerest VIII, Staffordshire IX and Middlesex XII (Chelsea) and Oxon XIV. You can find out more about how to buy or consult these volumes in the About our books section.
Each county is introduced by chapters on general topics such as prehistory, ecclesiastical history and economic history. Some of our volumes date from the turn of the 20th century and not only provide a comprehensive history of each parish, but also a unique snapshot of life as it was at the time the volume was published - VCH Lancashire, volume II, for example, tells of the popular sport of 'whippet racing' and the section covering industry provides a comprehensive article on the 'Sea Fisheries' of Lancashire (the volume was published in 1908). Natural historians have used the botany sections to find out what trees were growing in England a 100 years ago.
Most of each county history is devoted to short histories of a group of about 20 parishes, arranged by hundreds, which give the reader a comprehensive, fully referenced account of each city, town, and village in the county.
If you want to find out more about how the VCH is written and how our volumes are organised, please visit the About our Books section of this website.
