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Annual Lecture 2024 – at Central Baptist Church, Shrewsbury, on Saturday 26 October, at 14:00

Dr James Bowen – Cottagers, Common Land and Common Rights in Shropshire, 1500-1900

The nostalgic image of smoke rising from the chimney of the cottages encircling commons, idealised in popular nineteenth century literary works of the English countryside, has come to symbolise the everyday lives of cottagers who combined grazing a few livestock with exploiting the resources for rural crafts. Common rights, legal or customary, were of fundamental importance in the lives of local communities who relied on access to commons which provided pasture for livestock and other natural resources, reflecting their diverse environmental and landscape character. This lecture will provide insight into the history of common land and the lives of cottagers in Shropshire.

James P. Bowen is a historian specialising in local history. He completed a doctorate on the history of common land in Shropshire at Lancaster University and has published on aspects of the environmental and agricultural, rural and landscape history of the county. He contributed to the VCH Shropshire: Wem short.

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Volunteer and Committee News

It is with great regret that we have to announced that we have lost – for the time being at least – the services of Dr Judith Everard who has taken a post working at the University of East Anglia. She will not be lost to Shrewsbury though, nor entirely lost to the VCH Shropshire as she will continue to serve on the VCH Committee. We are looking for someone to replace her: see our advertisement.

But we are also strengthened by Sara Downs, late of the Shropshire Archives, who will be sorting out some of the eighteenth- to twentieth-century Shrewsbury entries (and has made a good start with an account of the Shrewsbury races).

Our New Facebook Page

Thanks to Emma Stones, a new recruit to the County Committee, we now have a Facebook page. This gives an immediate way of making announcements – of talks, of new text added to our website - and of course you can answer back! Click on the Facebook symbol at the bottom of every email newsletter and you will be transported to it.

New chapter added to Shrewsbury Part ii

Chapter 7.10 on Shrewsbury races and racecourse has been added to the web site.

Forthcoming Publication

Dr Judith Everard’s Early Records of Newport, Shropshire, c.1150-c.1650 is close to publication and we hope to have copies available for purchase at the Annual Meeting on 26 September, price £15.00 (on this occasion only!) This is a hefty edition of all the known records for Newport – over 500 charters and other items – filling some 260 pp. To be published by the List and Index Society .

Volunteer Needed

And finally, we are looking for a volunteer to type extracts from a late eighteenth-century Shrewsbury diary. The diary, kept by one John Tarbuck and beginning in 1782, does not survive (but we would be delighted to be proved wrong), Extracts were printed in Salopian Notes and Queries in 1886. The aim is to gather these together and retype them so we have the text in an accessible form. This is not a big job and could be done over several weeks or even months. If you think you might be interested, then please get in touch with Richard Hoyle at richard@rwhoyle.org.uk.

£16 plus

£2.50 delivery

Email treasurer@vchshropshire.org.uk, to arrange a bank transfer.

If you prefer to send a cheque, please send a note of the address you want it delivered to (or print and fill in this form) and a cheque for £18.50, made out to
VCH (Shropshire) Ltd.
to:

VCH Shropshire
Bratton Villa
Heighways Lane
All Stretton
Shropshire
SY6 6HN