Situated at the heart of what is known locally as 'Armour Village', the allotments site and the Recreation Ground make an immeasurable contribution to local amenities, and are highly valued. The whole of the Armour Hill Kentwood Hill allotments site covers an area of 11.5 acres. It was originally common land, sometimes called Tilehurst Common and sometimes Kentwood Common on old maps.

At Enclosure in 1811 one sixteenth of the Common was allocated as Poors Land and entrusted to the local Vicar and his wardens to take care of.. From this the current system of trustees emerged. The land has probably been cultivated as allotment gardens since the 1840's and there is archival evidence of small strips of land being exchanged in the 1830's and 1840's.

In this century there have been some small-holding activities such as pig-rearing, and evidence of this remains as disused buildings. Some of the land has not been cultivated leaving an extensive range of historic flora. In living memory cows were kept and until recently ducks were a familiar sight from the Recreation Ground

The Reading University Library Publication entitled "A Domesday of English Enclosure Acts and Awards" shows that under an 1811 Act of Parliament Tilehurst was awarded in 1817, an area of land totalling 1200 acres to compensate for land enclosure.

 The General Enclosure Act of 1845 included a permissive clause allowing persons interested to authorise the commissioners to proceed to make allotments for public purposes, roads, drains, charities etc, and another empowered them to allot land for the benefit of the labouring poor, including a special mention on the use of the land for recreation grounds.

 The above aspects of the act arose because of enlightened Politicians of the time opposing in the House all enclosures, which made insufficient provision for the exercise and recreation of dwellers affected by land enclosure.

 It is reasonable to assume that 19th Century land award for use by dwellers in the Tilehurst area was to be used for similar purposes including exercise, recreation and garden allotments for the labouring poor. The use of the land for recreation and exercise is as valid today as it was in the 19th Century if not more.

 The intent of the Trustees of Tilehurst Poor's Land Charity to have the area developed for housing is an abrogation of the responsibility imposed on them by the good persons of a previous generation who had the land commissioners set aside the land for use by the 19th Century dwellers of Tilehurst and for future generations of the area. It is essential therefore, that development of the land for housing purposes is stopped to ensure that all residents of Tilehurst as an open space hold the land available for use.

 Item A gives a reference to how Trusts were obliged to act in regard to land held by them for the benefit of the poor and its alternate use for recreation of the inhabitants under an Act of 1882.

 This poses the question of what happened to the Trustees obligations in regard to land held by them under the Allotments Extension Act of 1882 when was it was repealed and replaced by the Charities Act of 1960.

 Item B shows that the TILEHURST POOR'S LAND CHARITY was registered on 11th April 1962 approximately two years after the Allotments Extension Act was repealed and the Charities Act replaced it. Another interesting feature in Item B, the Objectives of the Trust, you will note that all reference has been excluded in regard to the use of land held by the Trust prior to the Charities Act of 1960. It is also noted that the Trusts governing document has been revised on two different occasions.

Was there any slight of hand when the Act of 1882 was repealed and the commencement of he Charities Act of 1960 in regard to dropping the Trust's responsibility to retain the land for community use if not being used by the poor? Regarding the history of the Trust has there ever been a conflict of interest on land use with trustees in the development business.

 If the planning permission application is to be over turned, it is essential that an answer is found to whether or not the Trusts obligations to retain land for community use was repealed when the Charities Act became effective.

 It would be very useful if an answer to the question of what happened to Trusts land retention obligations when the Act of 1882 was repealed and the registration of the Trust under the Charities Act in 1960.

The award specified that the hedgerows, which are currently on the original land boundaries shown on the Award map of 1817, should "be for ever after maintained and kept in repair." There has been a recent case (January 1997) in which a similar requirement in Flamborough, East Yorkshire under a Local Enclosure Act of 1765 has been upheld in court.

Item A Extract From a Book Entitled "The History of Allotments"

Item B Registration Details of TPLC

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