£3

Neil Spurgeon will talk about the 1830 swing riots associated with our current exhibition on the subject. This is the story of a riot, of destruction and defiance, when a number of threshing machines in the immediate area were destroyed.

Research into the events that happened at the time reveals that the farm workers faced a perfect storm created by the death of King George IV. After the end of the wars with France, and as an unintended consequence of the Poor Laws, the Corn Laws and a flood of workers from the military, farm workers were inflamed by draconian punishment.

This talk accompanies The Forgotten Riots of 1830 exhibition which is being hosted in The Spring’s Mezzanine Gallery between Tuesday 10th February and Saturday 21st March. Entry to the exhibition is free.