ABSTRACT
Dispersed-settlement types, single farms, cottages, at times combined into small hamlets — dominate the rural landscapes throughout much of western and north-western Britain and are indeed, a significant element within those areas where the general emphasis is upon nucleation. Just as there are practical problems of differentiating between large villages and small towns, and between villages and large hamlets, so the lower end of the scale, the boundary between single farm and hamlet, is often blurred. This chapter is concerned with the small, less important rural clusters, colloquially termed hamlets, and all classes of smaller groupings right down to an indisputable single farm, but in practice it is desirable to recognize a distinction between the farmstead — that is, the buildings, including the farmhouse, barns, byres, granaries, dovecotes, stabling and pigsties — and the farm — the total assemblage, buildings, land, stock and crops.
