Through England on a Side Saddle

First published in 1888, Fiennes' diary of her travels throughout England gives valuable insights into English social and economic history.

First published in 1888, Fiennes' diary of her travels throughout England around 1700 gives valuable insights into English social and economic history. Unlike later tourists who idealised antiquities and natural beauty, she was most interested in the modern, recording her impressions of new towns, new industries and a changing society.Through England on a Side Saddle was written around 1700, and first published in full in 1888. Celia Fiennes (1662–1741) was the granddaughter of the 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. She was an enthusiastic traveller through England, both for pleasure and 'to regain my health by variety and change of aire and exercise'. The diary which she kept was intended for her family to read, and, while it lacks Defoe's more systematic approach some two decades later, sheds valuable insights into English social and economic history at the turn of the century. She was uninterested in antiquities, getting most enthusiastic about new developments such as the development of spa towns such as Harrogate, mining and manufacturing industries, and the new stately homes of the period, in some of which she stayed en route. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=fience