The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1882-07-01
EppinS Forest.

extending ten miles in length, from Wan
stead on the east side of London to
Epping. Its area is 5000 acres. Origi-
aally it was much larger. The forest of
Essex. or royal forest of Waltham, in
the time of Henry LII. included almost
the whole country, and had the advan-
6age over the new forest of being alto
gether natural growth, its oaks having
come down from Druidical days. The
ownership of the actual soil remained
vested in the lords of the manor, subject
on the one hand to the Kings right of
free hunting, and, on the other, to the
commonable rights claimed by the free
holders and copyholders. In the time of
Charles L., when the boundaries of the
forest were definitely settled, its extent
was sixty thousand acres, of which area
four-fifths had been inclosed by private
landowners; though without prejudice
TO the royal right of sporting over it.
During the last century the average an
tlral yield of the royal hunting was six
teen deer, while other folks entitled to
the same privilege killed about forty-two
head more. The -grabbers and COM
tfloners had ravished the timber sadly,
yet in. 1898 there were 5000 oaks stand
ing which girthed more than thirty feet.
An annual fair, had been established in
1867 for the first Sunday in July, the
annual stag -hunt on Easter Monday has
always been one of the cockney holidays,
and the looping" in the fall was another
occasion, of jollity, the warden and ten
verderers, meanwhile utterly neglected
their duty. so that land was stolen, trees
were killed, and deer were driven away
Lord Mornington, the hereditary warden,
behaved like the dog intrusted with
the care of his masters dinner, mot only
did he not defend the public rights, but
he enclosed 440 acres at Wanstead at
one grab. The Verdere's followed his
example, and as the only officer of the
court was Lord Mornington's lawyer,
Che efforts of the sole honest guardian,
Colonel Palmer, were in vain. Mr.
Copeland began an agitation in Parlia-
nent in 1912, but without success, for
the commissioners of woods and forests
aided the spoilers by selling the crown
rights for the mere pittanee of 100000
This was in 1851, when the open forest
included nearly 5000 acres. Between
that time and 1871 it dwindled to 5000.
The lord of the manor would move out
his fences, build on the ground thus
stolen, and threaten "trespassers" with
legal penalties. At last it became the
practice to inclose whole tracts in the
open-to '.squat" as we would say, and
the whole forest would have vanished if
the Lord of Loughton had not been
too greedy. In 1864 he seooped in 1900
acres at once, buying the crown right for
a trihe, and granting about $50 acres to
the commoners of his own manor, so that
they made no objection to his putting a
fence around the remainder. Unluckily
for him, the inhabitants of Loughton
claimed the right since the time of King
Harold of cutting the boughs of the trees
in the waste land for fuel from the 18th
of November to the Esd of March of each
winter, the conditions being that they
We're not to kill the trees or spoil the
looks Of the forest, and when he built a
fence to keep them out the old laborers,
whose winters firewood was at stake
(and who, besides, have an inbred re-
pugnance for all inclosures), pulled down
the fence and cut their fagots, to assert
their right. An old man named Thomas
Willingale was the village hampden who
who led this revol,. The lord of the
manor prosecuted the trespasSers, and
one of them, consumptive boy, died
just as he was released from Jail, of
course intensifying local feeling. A
number of philosophical men formed
the Commons Preservation Society,
headed by the present Lord Mount
Temple and Mr.. Shaw-Lefevre, which
started crusade. TO- save all the metro
politan commons, took Willingness case
into chaucery and won it, This victory
saved the parish of Loughton, but grab
bling went on elsewhere, and at Ching
ford the lord of the manor actually
inclosed 400 acres without bothering to
buy the Crowns rights. A hard fight
ensued, only the buxtons of the seventeen
land-holding families opposing the sys-
TEN of Enclosure, but Mr.. -Fawcett took
the case into The Commons and fought
his own liberal Government. Even when
the Government had to moYe it proposed
to give the lords of the manor the 5000
acres they had stolen and 1000 more,
and out of the remaining |, 900 to apply
400 to satisfy the commoners. giving the
public one-tenth of the land for six parks
of 100 acres each. This impudent
proposition was promptly slaughtered.
and royal commission was ordered to
report plan for preserving and man.
aging the forest in the interest of the
public.
Just at this moment the London COM
missioners of sewers bought the old
manor of Aldersbrook for cemetery.
In Charles is time the lord of . this
manor claimed for himself and tenants
rights of common of pasture throughout
che length and breadth of the forest
waste, and the corporation sued in chan
Gerry to establish its rights. In 1874 the
city of London won its case, all Enclosures
since 1851 being declared illegal. The
fight lasted four years more, as the Coy
eminent tried to save not only the lots
that the grabbers had sold to innocent
third parties, on which, these latter had
built. but the fields the grabbers had not
built upon. AT a critical moment one of
the 'preseryationists, Mr., George Bur-
.ney, loaded several buses with laborers
and went and tore down every fence,
daring the land-thieves to rebuild them.
The final result was the appoint
ment of Sir Arthur Hobhouse as
cpIO arbtra4o, on1 A..