The Amateur Historian Volume 3 Number 8 Summer 1958

By Hodges-Paul, R.T.

pp 319-323

Discussion of Victorian pleasure gardens, including the famous formal Vauxhall and Ranelagh garden, in the context of the development of leisure and travel opportunities for the middle classes and the better-off members of the working class. The author traces the development of 'social' gardens during the Industrial Revolution and considers specifically the Swiss Gardens at Shoreham, which became a popular resort for London day trippers once the railway had allowed rapid access to the south coast. Contemporary evidence is used to describe these gardens in some detail. Hodges-Paul also considers the decline of the gardens, suggesting that this was as a result of the increasing wealth of the middle classes, better communications which allowed access to more distant attractions, a diminishing social status for these sites, and increased competition from a wider range of amusements.

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By Beresford, Maurice W.

pp 325-328

An description of taxation procedures and the changing methods of assessing tax in the 13th and 14th centuries - in particular, the assessment of 'movables' as well as land. A large number of records were produced during this period, many of which survive and provide much data on the distribution of wealth and population. A clear difference between the south-eastern and northern counties is postulated. As these are lay documents, they do not refer to ecclesiastical lands, but do act as a useful directory of rural development. From 1334 local communities were taxed as a whole, rather than by individual: people invariably paid the same amount as in previous years and the proportion of payment also remained static for years to come (see also 03 07 271-278; 04 03 101-109).

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By Baird, Kenneth D.

pp 329-331

Short account of the role of the medieval sheriff in Scotland, with comment on the present role of the office: historical topics covered are: i) civil and judicial powers; ii) ensuring safe conduct of travellers; iii) inspection of weights and measures; and iv) tax collection

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By Prince, Hugh C.

pp 332-349

Article on important landscape history subject, tracing - through the study of contemporary manuscript and printed maps - the development of parkland during the 17th and 18th centuries. The major parks were developed in the 18th century as designers and landowners sought to implement large-scale landscape change (whereas earlier parks tended to be more straightforward enclosure of existing woodland or grassland). Lancelot Brown and Humphrey Repton, perhaps the two most notable landscape designers of the 18th century, created nearly 200 parks each. Parkland continued to expand until the late 19th century when, among other factors, the changing land market meant that many were sold as building land, golf courses, and recreation grounds. The author suggests that the continued existence of many parklands is due to the fact that they were sited on land which was not particularly suitable for farming, that they were well-managed and had praiseworthy planting and maintenance policies, and that on the urban fringes the owners eventually handed over control of the parks to the local authority for public use.