xxxii
Appendix No. 1.
V.
The Essex Field Club's Statement in re " The Great Eastern
Railway Bill, High Beach Extension (1883)." *
Drawn up by the Honorary Secretary.
The Council and Members of the Essex Field Club wish most respect-
fully to place before Members of Parliament, students and lovers of
Nature, and the public generally, the following objections to the scheme
for running a line of railway from Chingford to High Beach across
Epping Forest:—
1. Although the scheme (and former ones of a like nature) is (and have
been) fomented and aided in every possible way, for inscrutable reasons,
by the great influence of the Corporation of London, acting as " Con-
servators" of Epping Forest, and also by individual members of the
Epping Forest Committee, we submit that such tampering with the Forest,
and promotion of private companies' schemes of speculation, is in direct
contravention of the letter and spirit of the Epping Forest Act, 1878.
The Act directs [Section 7 (1)] that:—
" The Conservators shall at all times keep Epping Forest unenclosed and
unbuilt on, as an open space for the recreation of the public; and they
shall by all lawful meant prevent, resist and abate all future enclosures,
encroachments, and building), and all attempts to enclose, encroach, or
build on any part thereof, or to appropriate or use the same, or the soil,
timber or roads thereof, or any part thereof, for any purpose inconsistent
with the objects of this Act." And (2) "The Conservators shall not
tell, demise, or otherwise alienate any part of the Forest, or concur in any
tale, demise, or other alienation thereof, ox any part thereof." And (3)
" The Conservators shall at all times, as far as possible, preserve the
Natural Aspect of the Forest."
We are informed that, in the face of these express stipulations, the
Corporation Seal has been affixed to an agreement by which the Forest
land required for the line is to be conveyed to the Railway Company, the
only consideration being the formation of roads and ways, which would
be in themselves a furthur encroachment upon the Forest.
2. We most emphatically assert that the proposed line is wholly
unnecessary, inasmuch as there is at present ample accommodation for
public access to the Forest. There are two lines of railway skirting the
woodlands on the eastern and western sides, with Forest Stations at (1)
Wood Street (within three furlongs of lovely forest glades); (2) at Hale
End (half-mile from excellent woodland district, "Oak Hill" and "Rushy
Plain"); (3) Chingford (on the Forest, within a very short distance of
masses of natural " bush " and woodland, including 1050 acres within two
miles radius ; touching parts of the Forest " beautified " and " improved "
by the Conservators, and crowned by the "Royal Forest Hotel''); † (4)
* This document was issued by the Council on February 27th, 1883, and sent by post
to all the members of the House of Commons, to the principal London newspapers, and
to various gentlemen known to be interested in open spaces. It is believed that the facts
therein brought forward placed the matter in its true light, and contributed in some
degree to the rejection of the Bill by Parliament. As the "Statement" is referred to in
the opening pages of this pamphlet, it is given here in extenso, as a justification of the
action of the Club in opposing the projected railway invasion, and as a collection of data
which will probably be useful in the future in any efforts to withstand other schemes of
Vandalism so likely to be put forward, it is rumoured, while the management of the
Forest remains in its present unsatisfactory condition.—Ed.
i- Those who wish well to the cause of open spaces and rational holiday-making should
study the results of the four years' Conservatorial management and taste exhibited at
Chingford. The "forestal" operations will be noted: such attempts at tree-planting