FRONTISPIECE
This book was inspired by real events: THE LAST READING OF THE RIOT ACT IN BRITAIN.
5Th August 1874, The Portsmouth and Southsea public rose up to defend their right-of-way across common land between the Clarence Pier and the Esplanade Hotel – it became known as ‘The Battle of Southsea’
Four days of rioting ensue when the Portsmouth Corporation bans the public from Southsea Common in preparation for private redevelopment. The police and eventually the army are called in to quell the trouble. The Battle of Southsea Common, as it became known, was the last occasion on which the Riot Act was read. The revolt succeeds; the Corporation abandons its plans and the Common is once again common land, and remains so.
Tom Sykes, writer and academic, Portsmouth, adapted from his articl
