Towersey Village Green
In the early years of the 19th. Century, by a series of Enclosure Acts, much of the common and waste land throughout the country was enclosed and alloted to various adjoining land owners. Towersey was not immune from these acts and the Towersey award, dated 12th. May 1825, records the allocation, to various residents, of land which had formly been common land.
Land up until this point had been available for all to use for grazing of cattle and general purposes. The local residents reacted strongly to the enclosures and it became an occassion of great riots! The Bucks, Beds and Herts Cronicle dated 26th.January 1822 gave a report of the trial of two Towersey residents who were charged with rioting and assault. According to the report a local Thame solicitor, and his clerk were prevented from pinning the necessary formal notice of intention, on the church door by a large crowd. The two ringleaders, John Allnut and William Dover were fined and ordered to serve short terms of imprisonment.
A large number of the original village houses, farms and all three public houses were situated around the edge of the green, and a public footpath ran around the green past these properties. It is also known at this time that the village stocks were positioned on the green near to the church wall. Up until the 1950’s much of the enclosed areas of land became orchards and paddocks.
It was at this time that another major change occured. Changes in building permission regulations allowed development on these ‘enclosed areas’. Most owners took advantage of this to sell off the land fronting the road for new housing, though there are still one or two houses retaining the original orchard and paddock.
All that remains of the original common land are remnants of the ancient footpath, which in some cases passes through private gardens, and a small area of village green near the crossroads in Manor Road, with a postbox and noticeboard, but alas no stocks!!