Shirley Heritage Project – Autumn 2015 Public History Talk #2
“One Movement or Several? The Impact of 18th and 19th Century Enclosures”
Speaker: Dr John Chapman
In 1829, Shirley Common was granted an Act of Enclosure to be divided into individual plots of land. St.James’ Church and the houses around it were some of the first buildings erected.
Dr Chapman gave a talk on the movement which saw large scale changes to land ownership in the 18th and 19th centuries with the enclosure of common and “waste” land. Also on hand were copies of the documents and maps relating to the Enclosure of Shirley Common in the 1830s.
Copies of the St.James’ Park History Book were also available for purchase, and a raffle was held to raise monies towards the speaker’s expenses.