Epping Forest is the largest public
open space in the London area, at almost 6,000 acres. It
stretches 12 miles from Manor Park in East London to just
north of Epping in Essex. As well as being a popular area for
recreation and enjoyment it is also of national and
international conservation importance with two thirds of it
being designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a
Special Area of Conservation.
In the second half of the 19th
century large areas of the Forest were being inclosed for
development, with scant regard for commoners’ rights or
general recreational needs. Such was the City of London’s
concern over this that it joined forces with the commoners who
had the right to graze their animals on the Forest and cut
wood, and fought a legal battle against the inclosures,
culminating in two ground-breaking Acts of Parliament passed
in 1878. One of these entrusted the ownership and care of
Epping Forest to the City, with the second making similar
provision for other open spaces under similar threat. The
Epping Forest Act of 1878 appointed the City of London as the
Conservator of Epping Forest and its strictures still govern
how the Forest is managed today.
Epping Forest now combines the roles of scenic open space,
important wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities. It hosts
numerous
events and activities. There are three Forest Centres spread
across Epping Forest, Epping Forest Visitor Centre in the north at
High Beach, a well-established beauty spot;
Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge in Chingford, a Tudor timber
hunt-standing dating from 1543; and in the south, The Temple,
dating from the 1760s, set in
Wanstead Park, once the formal gardens of the magnificent
Wanstead House.
For further information, download the Epping Forest leaflet,
Useful Information (413kb) and its
accompanying map (81kb).
Please note that all images used on
this website are copyright of the City of London / David
Woodfall, Brian Gotts, Keith French, Clare Eastwood, Sophie
Lillington, Alan Woodgate, Sue Tetlow & Yvette
Woodhouse.
Please email
us if you wish to seek permission to copy any of the images.
The City of London manages over 10,000 acres of green space in and
around London for the recreation and enjoyment of the public.
Find out more about the other spaces.
Epping Forest - have your say!
A new website
www.greenstat.org.uk has been set up
to record feedback and provide local residents with the
opportunity to comment on how open spaces nationwide are
managed and maintained. The Conservators will be able to
access this information and compare results on Epping Forest
with other open spaces up and down the country. This provides
us as the Conservators with very valuable feedback and will
also provide everybody with a truly national voice of what we
think about our open spaces!
We would very much welcome your
involvement. Please visit
www.greenstat.org.uk and click on the
London region, where you will then see a list of organisations
– please chose ‘City of London’ which is conveniently located
at the very top of the page. You will then be asked to select
whether you wish to comment on the Service provided by City of
London, or to comment on a specific Open Space. If you select
option 2 ‘Park or Open Space’ you will be given a list of City
of London open spaces to comment on – please select ‘Epping
Forest’ form this list and you will then be taken through an
online survey. Alternatively, a hard copy of the Visitor
Survey is available from the Epping Forest Visitor Centre (tel
020 8508 0028 or
email).
Thank you to all those who have completed the Visitor Survey
(either online or by hard copy) to date. Your feedback is very,
very important to us.
To view the analysis from the completed surveys received in
2006, please see the link below:
Download completed Visitor Surveys
analysis (118kb)