ITS HISTORY.
10
ton, and Miss Octavia Hill—all of whom took an
active part on its committee. Such a body had,
as was to be expected, great parliamentary in-
fluence. Among other steps that were taken at its
instigation, a Committee of the House of Com-
mons was appointed, who reported in 1863 that
the Forest was being destroyed, and recommended
that the forestal rights of the Crown should be
enforced where they had not been sold.
Two years later another committee was ap-
pointed to inquire into all the open spaces round
London. The view of the lords of the manor,
which was urged upon these committees, was that
nothing stood between each lord and enclosure on
his own manor but the right of the commoners of
that manor, which rights in several of the manors
had either been compensated or surrendered. On
the other hand, the opponents of this view main-
tained that the common rights still existed, and,
even if little used, were sufficient to resist enclosure.
This committee repeated the recommendation with
regard to the Forest which had been made by the
previous one; but, though an Act was passed pro-
viding for the regulation of commons, no steps were
taken by the Government of the day with regard to
the Forest, and in default of this the party of enclos-
ure gained courage to assert what they believed to
be their rights by further large enclosures. Within
a comparatively brief period nearly 3000 acres were
thus surrounded by fences. Public opinion began
to be aroused, but the first overt act of resistance
was committed by a labouring man—one Willin-
gale—who persisted in asserting his ancient right
of lopping in Loughton Manor, as his forefathers
had done. It is held locally that this right was