In the summer of 1871, thousands of ordinary Londoners gathered on Wanstead Flats to hear speeches against ‘enclosure’ and to protest the loss of common land. They stayed to tear down and destroy fences erected by would-be property developers. This campaign in the 1860s and 1870s – a radical coalition across social divides – led to the preservation of Epping Forest as a public green space under the protection of the City of London Corporation as its conservators.

Through 200 years of popular prints and images, this exhibition explores the shifting balance of power and control over the land now known as Epping Forest. From royal hunting ground to quiet paradise of green space for recreation and wildlife, the survival of its ancient pollarded trees appears to confirm continuity. But what’s a Forest for? And who determines who has access to its resources? Such questions have inspired lawyers and artists, protestors and philanthropists and prompted new and radical thinking about what is to be valued in a shared landscape.

An exhibition organised and curated by Epping Forest Visitor Centre. Part of the Radical Landscapes events and activities programme.

Image: The Gardener’s Magazine, 19 December 1874 © City of London Corporation.