Hearsall Common

Infobox Park
park = Hearsall Common


image size = 300px
caption = View to the east
type = Public park
location = Earlsdon, Coventry, England.
coordinates = coord|52.403677|-1.537667
size =
opened = Common land from at least the fifteenth century, and reassigned as recreation ground in 1927
operator = Coventry City Council
visitors =
status = Open all year

Hearsall Common is located in Earlsdon, Coventry in the West Midlands, central England.cite web
url = http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/environment/land-and-premises/parks-and-recreation/parks-in-coventry/
title = Parks in Coventry
publisher = Coventry City Council
accessdaymonth = 2 October
accessyear = 2007]

The common consists of a large grassy area with a smaller partly tarmacadamed area on one side of Hearsall Common Road,cite web
url = http://www.coventry-walks.org.uk/hearsall-common.html
title = Coventry walks
accessdaymonth = 1 October
accessyear = 2007] and a wooded nature reserve on the other side.cite web
url = http://www.caroluk.org.uk/rural/hearsall.html
title = Hearsall Common
accessdaymonth = 1 October
accessyear = 2007] It is free to enter and open to the public 24 hrs a day; however, after several years of residents complaining about itinerant or nomadic travellers using the common, an embankment was built alongside the roads to prevent vehicles from driving onto the common.

Hearsall Common has a long history of being common land going back to at least the thirteenth century. It was reassigned as recreation ground by a Coventry Corporation Act of 1927, along with other areas of common land in Coventry.

History

The first detailed survey of the common land and waste ground in and around Coventry was made in 1423.cite web
url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=16028
title = The City of Coventry - The common lands
publisher = British History online
accessdaymonth = 2 October
accessyear = 2007] These areas have been important for centuries as common land for grazing animals. In the 18th century, when Coventry was much smaller than it is now, the western areas of Hearsall Common fell within Coventry's boundaries, while the eastern areas extended far beyond them.Hearsall Common,together with Coventry's other commons, Sowe, Whitley, Barras Heath and Radford, surrounded the city and constricted its growth. The City was the third or fourth most important city in the country during the medieval period, behind London, York and, arguably, Norwich, but the jealously guarded Freeman's rights to graze animals on the commons prevented the city from expanding into these areas and growing. This tight constraint on growth is thought to be the reason why Birmingham, which was just a village until the 17th century, became the large metropolis that is now with a population three times greater than that of Coventry.Fact|date=September 2008

The Coventry Corporation Act of 1927 reassigned Whitley Common, Hearsall Common, Barras Heath, and Radford Common as recreation grounds, and ended all the remaining traditional commoning rights on waste ground in Coventry, and the "freemen" of the city, who had been allowed to have up to three animals grazing on the these areas since 1833, received an annual sum of £100 as compensation.

Twenty one acres of the common had been developed as sports pitches by 1954.

Uses

The section of Hearsall Common which is partly covered with rough grass and partly covered with tarmac or gravel is used by fairs or circuses and their associated heavy vehicles.cite web
url = http://www.kites.org/kitefantastic/Site_review/hearsall_common.htm
title = Site report of kite flying
accessdaymonth = 1 October
accessyear = 2007
author =
last = Adam
first = Redshaw
date = 1 May 2000
year =
month =] The Moscow State Circus, which gave performances for five days in November 2004,cite web
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/coventry/features/stories/2004/11/moscow-state-circus.shtml
title = Dizzy heights of circus life
accessdaymonth = 2 October
accessyear = 2007
publisher= BBC
month= November
year= 2004] is one of many circuses that have visited the common over the years.

The larger eastern section of the common is a large open area of mowed grass that attracts dog walkers, sunbathers, kite flyers. and by local children to play football. On the north side of the road near to the woods there is a cycle race track that is used for cycle competitions. [cite web
url = http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/cys/EventReports2007/20070718_hearsall_common_match.asp
title = Cycle competition report
accessdaymonth = 1 October
accessyear = 2007
author =
puplisher = Britishcycling.org
last =
first =
date = 18 July 2007
year =
month =] [cite web
url = http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/cys/News2006/20060201_coventry_get_finals.asp
title = Coventry To Stage British Team Finals
accessdaymonth = 1 October
accessyear = 2007
author =
puplisher = Britishcycling.org
last =
first =
date = 1 February 2007
year =
month =]

Recently the Earlsdon Festival moved from being based predominantly in Earlsdon Street to the common. The festival usually takes place on the May Day bank holiday weekend.

After a lot of rain in the summer of 2007, the Donkey Derby which was scheduled to take place in the War Memorial Park, Coventry was held at Hearsall Common. [cite web
url = http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ccm/content/chief-executives-directorate/corporate-policy/communications-team/news-releases-2007/donkey-derby-moves-to-hearsall-common.en;jsessionid=aw1de8Fq3rG6
title = Donkey Derby moves to Hearsall Common
accessdaymonth = 1 October
accessyear = 2007
author =
publisher = Coventry City Council
last =
first =
date = 2 August 2007
year =
month =]

Frank Whittle

Frank Whittle, the aerospace engineer and jet pioneer, was born in Earlsdon,cite web
url = http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/Whittle.html
title = Aviators - Whittle, Frank (1907-1996)
publisher = Internet Encyclopedia of Science
accessdaymonth = 2 October
accessyear = 2007] and the house in Newcombe Road that he grew up in, which has a commemorative plaque on it, is about half a mile from the common. He was apparently inspired to pursue a career in engineering after seeing an aircraft land on Hearsall Common in 1916, from which grew the urban myth that the aircraft blew his hat off and this in particular inspired him, as a young boy, to become involved in aeronautics. A plaque on the common alludes to this story.

Gallery

References

External links

* [http://www.visitcoventry.co.uk/thedms.asp?dms=13&param1=see&venue=2701182 Coventry & Warwickshire website]