COMMONS & OPEN SPACES 199 
the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1879, with re¬ 
servations for the rifle range and military exercises. 
The space is altogether over 200 acres. The ground 
in ancient times was a wood, adjoining “ Old Oak 
Common,” just beyond the London boundary, which 
was covered with patriarchal oaks. The last was felled 
in 1830. The ground, being flat, is admirably suited for 
the War Office purposes ; it has gone through a process 
of draining, and the only part not downtrodden by 
soldiers has been “ improved ” by the London County 
Council, so there is little wildness or attraction in the 
place. The presence of a prison, erected in 1874, still 
further diminishes its charm as an open space. 
This completes the open large spaces on the north ; 
the south of the river is even richer in commons. One 
of the most thoroughly rural spots within the London 
area is Bostall Wood. There is nothing to spoil the 
illusion, and for quite a considerable walk it would be 
easy to imagine that a journey on the magic horse of the 
“ Arabian Nights ” had been taken to some distant forest 
land, to forget that the roar of the town was barely out 
of one’s ears, and that ten minutes’ walk would take one, 
out of the enchanted land, back to suburban villas and 
electric trams. 
Beyond the inevitable band-stand, which attracts 
thousands on a summer Sunday evening, there is nothing 
to jar, and spoil the illusion of real country. The woods, 
and Bostall Heath which adjoins them, can be reached 
from Plumstead or Abbey Wood Station, in twenty 
minutes’ walk up the steep hill. Pine woods crest the 
summit, and below them stretches a delightful thicket, 
chiefly of oaks and sweet chestnut, with an undergrowth 
of holly and a pleasant tangle of bracken and bramble, 
