top of page
.png)
Hampshire Swing Riots
Presented by Howard Benbrook
Synopsis
The Swing Riots were the outcome of considerable discontent in rural communities after the Napoleonic Wars when a combination of poor harvests, the high price of bread (due to Corn Laws) and enclosures were crystallised around the adoption of technology – the Threshing Machine. Reaction in Hampshire was swift, led by the Duke of Wellington, and many Hampshire men were transported or imprisoned and two were executed.
Profile
Howard Benbrook is a volunteer at The Vyne, where he was stimulated to investigate the Swing Riots of 1830 by a row of 68 truncheons in the Ante Chapel at The Vyne, which were issued to special constables in order to keep control during the Riots
bottom of page