Countryside Vocabulary

Welcome back to our blog and this week’s vocabulary post

After exploring useful language related to talking about towns and cities as well as shops and shopping in them, this week we’ll explore the vocabulary topic of the countryside.

Words and expressions that refer to the countryside

As you can see from the above image, we can avoid over using the word countryside by using a number of phrases and expressions.

Especially useful when talking about areas outside of main cities that are connected to farming is the adjective agricultural.

‘over the last few years, agricultural communities have had to reinvent themselves as farming has become less profitable’

The expression ‘the great outdoors’ is also a good expression that refers to the open countryside in general. It is especially used in the context of sport and leisure activities as this headline from the New Zealand Herald demonstrates:

‘Life in the great outdoors: Handy camping tips from readers’
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=12203235

Areas of Land in the countryside:

Moorland / the Moors – collective u/c noun – a large and high area of land that is covered in grass and ‘heather’ (purple coloured plant shown in picture). Often, these are areas that are maintained for, and associated, with hunting.

A National Park – countable noun – An area of land in the countryside that is legally protected by the government because of its beauty and/or scientific or ecological importance.

Farmland – collective u/c noun – land used for farming

Hill – noun -An area of land that is smaller than a mountain (in England, this is typically less than 700 meters tall) although higher than the other areas around it. The collective name for the hills that are on the edges of mountainous areas is ‘the foothills’ – the foothills of the Pyrenees

Woodland – collective noun – an area covered with trees. A large area of woodland can also be called a forest

Valley – A low and long area of land between mountains and/or hills that usually has a river in it

meadow – An area of grassland where wild flowers grow

A Field – a large and open area of land on a farm for animals or growing crops.

coast – collective noun – the area of land that borders the sea

Other features and buildings in the countryside

A cottage – A small house in the countryside or a village.

‘when I think of the countryside, I think of villages with pretty cottages’

A Farmhouse – The building on a farm that is the home of the farmer.

A Smallholding / homestead – a small farm.

A Barn – a large farm building for crops, animals or the storage of equipment.

A cabin / hut – A small, simple building that provides shelter.

‘we spent our last holiday staying in a wooden cabin next to a lake’

A Bothy – a simple house or shelter with one or two rooms in a remote area.

An allotment – a small piece of land where a person can grow food for themselves.

‘we spend most of our weekends at the allotment looking after our vegetables’

An orchard – an area of land with fruit trees.

A (public) footpath – British Eng. – a legally protected route for walkers

A (public) bridleway/bridle path – a legally protected path in the countryside where not only walkers but also horse riders and cyclists can use

A country lane – a small road in the countryside

A Reservoir – A lake, either natural or man-made, where water is stored so that it can be used to generate electricity or supply water to residents in an area.

A dam – an artificial wall across a river to create a reservoir

‘We parked our car on the road over the dam and had a walk around the reservoir.’

I hope that there is some language with this post that you can use to talk about traveling, holidays, where you live or where you like to spend you leisure time.