In Our Time: History

Octavia Hill


Listen Later

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Victorian social reformer Octavia Hill.From the 1850s until her death in 1912, Octavia Hill was an energetic campaigner who did much to improve the lot of impoverished city dwellers. She was a pioneer of social housing who believed that there were better and more humane ways of arranging accommodation for the poor than through the state. Aided at first by her friend John Ruskin, the essayist and art critic, she bought houses and let them to the urban dispossessed. Octavia Hill provided an early model of social work, did much to preserve urban open spaces, and was the first to use the term 'green belt' to describe the rural areas around London. She was also one of the founders of the National Trust. Yet her vision of social reform, involving volunteers and private enterprise rather than central government, was often at odds with that of her contemporaries.With:Dinah BirchProfessor of English Literature and Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at Liverpool UniversityLawrence GoldmanFellow in Modern History at St Peter's College, OxfordGillian DarleyHistorian and biographer of Octavia HillProducer: Thomas Morris.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

In Our Time: HistoryBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

1,831 ratings


More shows like In Our Time: History

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,663 Listeners

The Archers by BBC Radio 4

The Archers

1,089 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,062 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,475 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,799 Listeners

History Extra podcast by Immediate Media

History Extra podcast

3,234 Listeners

In Our Time: Philosophy by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Philosophy

867 Listeners

In Our Time: Culture by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Culture

609 Listeners

In Our Time: Science by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Science

734 Listeners

The History Hour by BBC World Service

The History Hour

593 Listeners

In Our Time: Religion by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time: Religion

275 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,755 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,048 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,085 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

478 Listeners

Dan Snow's History Hit by History Hit

Dan Snow's History Hit

4,778 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,203 Listeners

The Ancients by History Hit

The Ancients

3,304 Listeners

The Bomb by BBC World Service

The Bomb

1,034 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

15,663 Listeners

Gone Medieval by History Hit

Gone Medieval

1,883 Listeners

Not Just the Tudors by History Hit

Not Just the Tudors

2,065 Listeners

Empire: World History by Goalhanger

Empire: World History

2,474 Listeners