Thomas Willingale
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Thomas Willingale (? - 1870), lived in the town of Loughton in Essex, UK. He was instrumental in the preservation of Epping Forest and is commemorated for his actions.
"Lopping" was the ancient practice of cutting or lopping the boughs and branches of trees by commoners for use as fuel during winter. Thomas Willingale was a man who guarded this right, and every November 11 at midnight, he went into the forest as he believed that if no-one started lopping at the appointed hour, the rights would be lost forever.
In 1860, the lords of the manor were encroaching on the forest to stop the commoners from practicing their lopping rights. One local land owner, William Whitaker Maitland, tried to end this custom by inviting all the loppers to a supper at the Kings Head pub (which still exists to this day in Loughton High Road). He was hoping that by midnight, they would all be too drunk to go into the forest and exercise their rights. However, Thomas Willingale realised treachery was afoot, and at midnight he lopped off a branch before triumphantly returning to the Kings Head.
That same year, the Revd John Whitaker Maitland enclosed 1,318 acres (5 km²) of forest land, with the intention of selling this on for building or horticulture. Thomas Willingale was incensed of this further erosion of commoner rights in the forest and decided to fight the enclosure. Luckily a number of well-to-do people came to Thomas aid, promising support and more importantly financial help. These included Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton of Warlies, a prominent landowner, his brother Edward North Buxton of Knighton, a leading member of the Commons Preservation Society and John T. Bedford, a member of the Corporation of London.
Eventually the Corporation of London was persuaded to take on the landowners and ‘secure for the People, for the purposes of public health and recreation’ the remainder of the forest of Epping. Legal proceedings by the Corporation, against the enclosures began August 1871 resulting, ultimately in 1878 in the Epping Forest Act.
Unfortunately, Thomas Willingale died in 1870 and was unable to see the forest given the protection it deserved.
Today, Epping Forest is still enjoyed for recreation by thousands of people each year. The forest itself is guarded greatly against development of any kind, and as a result digs deep into the heart of East London with major development either side. Thomas Willingale is commemorated in Loughton by the streetname Willingale Road, and a pub named after him in Chingford.