'The Social World of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½'s Green Spaces' is a community history project supported by the
Municipal public parks, cemeteries and other public green spaces are one of the greatest legacies of Victorian Britain.
The 1845 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Enclosure Act enabled the creation of an interconnected series of green spaces including the Arboretum (1852) and the Forest. These constitute one of the most ambitious schemes of urban enclosure and improvement in mid-Victorian Britain and were inspired by local naturalists and sanitary reformers as well as cultural emulation and civic rivalry with other urban centres.
Project overview
Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, this community history project examined the changing social and cultural uses of the Forest, the Arboretum, the General Cemetery, Church Cemetery and some of the other green spaces formed during the mid-nineteenth century.
Led by the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ and the University of Derby it explored the relationship between the parks and the changing communities in their vicinity.
Principal Investigator: Prof John Beckett
Co-Investigator: Dr Paul Elliott
Research Fellow: Dr Jonathan Coope
Research Fellow: Dr Judith Mills
ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½University Park ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, NG7 2RD
Contact details