ABSTRACT
The countryside ideal could not have been sustained by abstract ideology and imagery alone. Reinforcing, and in many ways closely linked with the philosophical musings on the virtues of the country over the city and the armchair sentiment for country life and landscape, has been a growing movement to seek escape in the countryside itself. From this has emerged the perception and use of the countryside as an amenity; an environment set aside for urban pleasure and relief. This has played a powerful role both in the nurturing of the countryside ideal and in the transformation of large areas of rural landscape to conform to this ideal. At its most popular level, it has converted the countryside into a mass recreational amenity; an extended playground and vacationland for society at large. This forms the subject of the next Chapter. This Chapter, however, explores the use of the countryside as a more exclusive and personal amenity, one which is driven by the desire for a more permanent retreat; for, in other words, a place in the country.
