Hamlets are small settlements often built around a specific place. The word “borough” originated from the Old French hamel, meaning “village.” Hamlets lack shops and services and are often subordinate to the next larger town. Historically, people in a hamlet often worked for the same entity. Villages lack formal accommodations for tourists but can be charming and have historic buildings and traditional crafts.
A borough is a settlement that is too small to be considered a city or village. As a rule, hamlets are rural and many of them are built around a specific place such as a mill or a large farm. In some countries, hamlets are legally defined, while in others, world is simply a term to describe a small settlement, with no fixed definition attached.
The word “borough” originated in English around 1300, borrowed from the Old French hamel, meaning “village.” “Hamlet” is simply a diminutive of hamel, which underlines the small size of a village. Because hamlets are quite small, it is not uncommon for all of the properties in a hamlet to be owned by the same person or business, as is the case with a farm or mill.
A typical village consists of a few houses, often crowded close to the road. Many hamlets lack shops and services, forcing their inhabitants to travel to the nearest town to get their needs met, and most also lack a church. In regions where hamlets are legally defined, they are often seen as secondary settlements subordinate to the next larger town, with the residents of the hamlet becoming wrapped up in that town’s ecclesiastical parish.
Historically, people in a hamlet often worked for the same entity, and in many cases hamlets consisted of groups of villagers who had moved to be closer to a place of work or to avoid unpleasant conditions in the village. Residents of modern villages are usually quite close, as the small size of the settlement encourages friendly interaction between people and it is easy to get to know all the neighbours.
The villages are rarely visited, as they lack formal accommodations for tourists and generally lack attractions to generate interest. People can, however, travel through the villages on their way to elsewhere, and some people find the villages quite charming, as they reflect a slow, intimate lifestyle that isn’t very common in the modern era. Especially in Europe, many villages have historic buildings that can be interesting to see, and in some villages, citizens support themselves by producing traditional crafts, ensuring that traditional craft culture and techniques do not die out.
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