IV EPPING FOREST 77 



poration of the City of London and many members of 

 the Legislature took a prominent part. In 1871 the 

 Epping Forest Commissioners were appointed by Act 

 of Parliament, and they gave in their final report only in 

 the spring of last year. But in the meantime a most im- 

 portant case had been decided in the courts. At the 

 request of the Corporation of London, which supplied all 

 the necessary funds, the Commissioners of Sewers (as 

 freeholders in the forest) commenced a suit in Chancery 

 against the lords of manors and persons to whom they had 

 granted lands, claiming a right of common over all the 

 waste lands of the forest, and that all enclosures made 

 since 1851 should be declared illegal. The Master of the 

 Rolls decided (on the 24th November, 1874) in favour of 

 the plaintiffs, and against this decision the defendants did 

 not appeal. It has therefore been made the basis of 

 legislation in the Act just passed, which declares, that 

 the whole 5,928 acres which the Commissioners found to 

 have been open waste of the Forest in 1851 are to be 

 treated as common lands, and (the lords of manors or 

 their grantees being first duly compensated for their 

 manorial rights and property in the soil) that the whole 

 of this extensive area, with the exception of lands built 

 upon before 1871, gardens, and pleasure-grounds, is to be 

 preserved " uninclosed and unbuilt upon as an open space 

 for the recreation and enjoyment of the public." 



Large sums of money were, however, required to buy up 

 the manorial rights, and although this might possibly 

 have been done by public subscription, the necessity for 

 this course was obviated by the liberality and public 

 spirit of the City of London, which offered to supply all 

 the needful funds, not only for this purchase, but also for 

 all work that might be found necessary for the preserva- 

 tion, management, and replanting of the forest. This 

 munificent offer was accepted, and the very reasonable 

 desire of the Corporation to have the chief voice in the 

 management of the newly acquired domain in trust for 

 the public, was acceded to by the Legislature ; and the 

 Act accordingly declares that Epping Forest is to be 

 managed by a committee consisting of twelve members of 



