Living on the edge; the social and economic culture of the rock house communities in Kinver from 1700 to 1963

Abstract

The study examines the changing culture of the community that occupied the Kinver rock houses over three centuries. They are regarded as an interesting but incidental feature of the rural landscape, rather than an unusual and historically important aspect of post mediaeval and modern life. The Kinver Edge rock houses were created in response to growing demand rather than desperate need and provide an unusually detailed record of a community living on the edge, with the names and occupations of its residents appearing in legal documents and parish registers throughout the late C18th and C19th. The rock houses which formed the three small enclaves clustering on the periphery of the village were the forerunners of the dormitory suburb. In this respect, the social history of the rock houses is the history of Kinver and of many other villages like it, from c.1770 to c.1950. Their creation, use, change and decline in use from working community to café and tea rooms, human resource to tourist amenity, spells out the centuries-long social and economic changes which have altered not only the appearance but also the fabric and substance of things across the U.K.