The Charter of the Forest, the enclosure of Penge Common and the making of Vicar's Oak, a newly created community space.
The Charter of the Forest of 1217 gave commoners rights, privileges and protection against the abuses of the king, his sheriffs and the encroaching aristocracy. From the sixteenth century these rights were steadily eroded as common land was ‘enclosed’ or privatised. And by the time Penge Common was enclosed in the 1800s, the driving force was industrialisation and suburban growth.
The Vicar’s Oak Scheme, completed in 2018, has enabled local people to redevelop one small but public area on the edge of Crystal Palace Park to commemorate the area's boundary heritage.
Speakers:
Martin Spence has worked as a bookseller, filmmaker, and trade union negotiator. He is the author of The Making of a London Suburb, about Penge’s place in the emergence of London as the first capitalist world-city.
Julie Timbrell is an activist, community artist and democracy practitioner. In 2012 she and other activists involved in Occupy London co-founded New Putney Debates. This collective linked English revolutionary history to current radical thinking on democracy, economics, social and environmental justice.
When: Tuesday 3 December 2019 (7:30-9pm)
Where: Crystal Palace Museum Anerley Hill London SE19 2BA
Further info.: book in advance here
Email: info@invisiblepalace.org.uk.
