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Epping Forest is owned and maintained by the Corporation of London by two 1878 Acts of Parliament. It is an ancient woodland, measuring 19km by 4km with large parts of it recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. In Tudor and Elizabethan times the woodland was used a royal hunting Forest and Queen Elizabeths Hunting lodge can still be seen.
Epping Forest is the largest public open space in the London area, at almost 6,000 acres. It stretches 12 miles from Manor Park in East London to just north of Epping in Essex. As well as being a popular area for recreation and enjoyment it is also of national and international conservation importance with two thirds of it being designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation.
In the second half of the 19th century large areas of the Forest were being inclosed for development, with scant regard for commoners’ rights or general recreational needs. Such was the City of London’s concern over this that it joined forces with the commoners who had the right to graze their animals on the Forest and cut wood, and fought a legal battle against the inclosures, culminating in two ground-breaking Acts of Parliament passed in 1878. One of these entrusted the ownership and care of Epping Forest to the City, with the second making similar provision for other open spaces under similar threat. The Epping Forest Act of 1878 appointed the City of London as the Conservator of Epping Forest and its strictures still govern how the Forest is managed today. |
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