One hundred years after this death, the remarkable social reformer Joseph Arch is still pulling in the crowds outside the Stags Head in Wellesbourne!
In an event organised by Wellesbourne Allotment Association to commemorate his life and times people came from far and wide to hear some of Joseph Arch’s own words re-enacted by Dr Viv Thomas, to join the recently formed Wellesbourne Sings choir in two rarely heard historical protest songs (including the Persecutors which celebrated the work of Joseph Arch) and to enjoy the Herebugh Morris Dancers from Harbury.
Joseph Arch lived in Barford and was one of the first commoners to become an MP. His ground-breaking speech in 1872 under the Chestnut tree outside the Stag’s Head in Wellesbourne proved a pivotal moment in social and political history, helping to improve the rights of agricultural labourers and forming the first union for farm workers. He was also a passionate advocate of allotments.
Wellesbourne Allotment Association Chair Ian Hope said: “The words of this great man still resonate today. He was brought change at a time when the landowning gentry did not want the labourer to know or think, they just wanted them to work. Joseph Arch campaigned for their rights and for the allotment movement to give the common people a chance to grow their own food.
“ We were delighted that so many people came to celebrate such a great man – they included Frank Young from Banbury a former farm labourer who sent on to become a local agricultural workers union president, the author Jeremy Burchardt from Reading University Museum or English Rural Life who has written extensively about the Allotment Movement and many others from surrounding towns and villages.”
The day had begun when members of the Wellesbourne Allotment Committee were invited to join Barford Heritage Group and Matt Western, MP for Leamington for a wreath laying in Barford where Joseph Arch is buried. They were then joined by more than 40 people to walk the Joseph Arch Way, retracing his footsteps from Barford to Wellesbourne.
Watch this space for a video on this incredible day!
