Green Eggs and Hamlets

Our new home is in the "hamlet"of Callow - but what's a hamlet? In England, there are hamlets, villages, towns, and cities. A hamlet is recognized as a collection of less than 2o buildings (mainly houses) not necessarily having any public service. A village is larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town and will have some communal building. In days past, that building would have been the parish church -- now it's as likely to be a public house -- better known simply as the local "pub". It's hard to tell when a village has become large enough to become a town, but town's will add organization, administration, and possibly a legal charter. Cities, according to one source, are defined by having a branch of Marks and Spencer. That's supposed to be funny, I think, but I'm not that English yet.