156 EPPING FOREST. 



After discussing at length the legal authorities on the 

 subject, he said, " Epping Forest is one of the ancient forests 

 whose origin is lost in obscurity. All we know is that it was 

 a Koyal Forest in the time of Edward the Confessor, when the 

 Crown was also Lord of the Manor of Lough ton. If, therefore, 

 the grant we are seeking for was made by Edward the Confessor 

 or by one of his predecessors, it would surely have antiquity 

 enough to satisfy these authorities. 



" If therefore the phenomena are such that they cannot be 

 reasonably explained otherwise than by a long-standing belief 

 and tradition among the inhabitants, I think that the strict 

 rules of law warrant me in rinding a legal origin for their prac- 

 tice by presuming either a grant of such antiquity as to be prior 

 to the rule of law which requires incorporation, or a grant which 

 effected corj^oration for the purpose of securing its due enjoy- 

 ment/'' 



Lord Hobhouse consequently awarded to the 

 inhabitants of Loughton the sum of 7,000 in 

 compensation for their rights. He was good enough to 

 consult me as to how he should appropriate this fund, 

 and at my suggestion he directed 1,000 to be paid to 

 those of the cottagers who had actually exercised the 

 right and derived profit from it, and the residue to be 

 expended in building a village hall at Loughton, to 

 be used as a reading-room and a place of meeting for 

 the inhabitants, and to be called the Loppers' Hall. 



It may be worth while to mention the sequel of this 

 award. The day came, some two years later, when 

 the foundation-stone of this village hall was to be laid, 

 and it was made the occasion of a popular demonstra- 

 tion at Loughton. With singular infelicity, the local 

 managers responsible for it invited the Lord Mayor of 



