What is a Green?

The concept of a green goes back to English village life in the Middle Ages, and there seemed to have been several reasons for setting a grassy enclosure within a village precinct. In places where danger of attack existed, the green was actually a fenced area into which livestock from the private hopmes could be driven for safety. Sometimes a green simply evolved from wasteland or areas that were not suitable for use, the land might be marshy or too full of rocks. Other greens came about as convenient open spaces, possibly with small ponds in them. They were practical as bits of grazing lands and for village activities such as outdoor businesses and fair centers. A green might have grown naturally about the central meeting house; people could gahter there, a pound for stray animals set up or a jail or stocks, even bands might practice on it. Some greens were very large parks, some mere strips along main roads.

In America the concept of a green remained in the minds of the town planners, and a space was often set apart, as in Boston, New Haven, Stamford, and even Sharon.

When Sharon was settled in 1739, the proprietors determined to create a central town plot running the length of the main village with ample room for necessary public establishments. The Town Street as originally laid out was twleve rods wide, double the width of the other streets. Sharon’s first two meeting houses were built on the west part of the green. A pound was established, and grazing was permitted.- a practical way of keeping the grass cut! Through the years the green has seen many uses. Once a lumber yard existed there. Picnics, rallies and festivals, such as our 2010 “Open House on the Green”, naturally take place on the Green.

Though the streets widen and the stately elms have gone, Sharon’s green rermains relatively unchanged for all to enjoy.

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