THE WILLINGALES OF LOUGHTON.
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and at a later date the Loughton Vestry, at its meeting on April
1st, 1875, passed the following two Resolutions :
1. "That the existence of the alleged forestal rights causes
great waste and demoralisation, and that it is expedient that
they should be abolished with due compensation.
2. "That the Epping Forest Commissioners be informed
that the enclosure of lands granted from the waste during the
last 20 years has been highly beneficial to the parish by en-
larging the area for assessment by providing labour for the
industrious poor, and by conducing to the general health by
drainage and cultivation, and that in the opinion of this Vestry
it is very desirable that no attempts should be made to interfere
with such enclosed lands."
As some of the most prominent vestrymen of Loughton at
that time were themselves beneficiaries by the enclosures, one
can realise how "very desirable" it was, in their opinion, to be
left undisturbed in their new possessions.
When, in 1865, the lord of the manor of Loughton, bolder
than his fellows, put a ring fence around the whole extent of 1316
acres of Forest contained within his manor, leaving open only
50 acres of roadside waste, and began to cut roads through the
very heart of the woodlands in order to develop them for building
sites, it was realised widely that a crisis had been reached which
demanded energetic counteraction if the Forest was to be saved
at all.
In 1866, a labouring-man of Loughton, one Thomas Willingale,
by his stubborn determination in asserting his ancient right to
enter upon the Forest and to lop trees during the winter months,
was instrumental (being backed by Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton
and others, and by the newly-formed Commons Preservation
Society), in initiating the long drawn out legal proceedings
which only reached a final conclusion sixteen years later, when,
in May 1882, Queen Victoria formally dedicated the Forest
as an open space for the use and enjoyment of the people for
ever.
Almost from the first, however, confusion arose as to the
facts connected with the action of the humble individual who
merits the distinction of being the protagonist in this great fight
for public rights : and that confusion has become accentuated
with the passage of time. Even those who should have been