Revised papers presented in their original form at the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain annual symposium, held 17 May 2008 at the Art Workers' Guild in London.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction. Vernacular studies and British architectural history / Peter Guillery -- Pre-Reformation parish churches : a point of view / P.S. Barnwell -- Following the geometrical design path from Ely to Jamestown, Virginia / Laurie Smith -- The villa : ideal type or vernacular variant? / Elizabeth McKellar -- The York retreat, "a vernacular of equality" / Ann-Marie Akehurst -- Self-conscious regionalism : Dan Gibson and the arts and crafts house in the Lake District / Esm�e Whittaker --Tudoresque vernacular and the self-reliant Englishman / Andrew Ballantyne and Andrew Law -- "The hollow victory" of modern architecture and the quest for the vernacular : J.M. Richards and "the functional tradition" / Erdem Erten -- A modernist vernacular? The hidden diversity of post-war council housing / Miles Glendinning -- Fro4650m longhouse to live/work unit : parallel histories and absent narratives / Frances Holliss.