Making a Drama out of a Crisis
Stuart Hall on Victorian riots on stage
Remarkable events which took place a century ago in the Norfolk village of Roydon are the subject of a new play which testifies to the continuing significance of a successful village uprising against a greedy landowner.
The events of 1895 were sparked off by the lord of the manor, John Tudor Frere, who due to financial problems started to fence off the last remaining areas of common land in the village, one by one.
One of three open commons had already been closed to grazing when in early August that year the lord's agent, Todd, announced that animals found on Brewers' Green or Feezin Hills would be impounded.
To the dismay and anger of villagers the threat was carried out a week later when horses and geese belonging to villagers were impounded – before being taken to Diss market on August 18th, for auction.
Fearing trouble, the police escorted the animals from Roydon, but determined villagers got the upper-hand at Diss market. 'In the melee halters were slipped; the ponies escaped through the screaming onlookers and the geese fluttered away when the pig net was surreptitiously loosened', it was reported.
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