"They're Our Own"

Preserving Wanstead Flats as Public Open Space
A5 pamphlet

Wanstead Flats of old was the southernmost portion of Epping Forest. In the mid-19th century, the local landowner Earl Cowley planned to enclose large parts of the open space here and develop it. Fences were erected around the land to keep people out.
But this caused huge local outrage, and a campaign against the enclosure sprang up.

On July 8th 1871, thousands of locals and people from the wider East End gathered to protest at the enclosure of the Flats, and destroyed the fences that had been put up around the land.

As a result Wanstead Flats remain open space today, accessible to all.