English Women and the Late-Nineteenth Century Open Space Movement

Abstract

During the second half of the nineteenth century, England became the most industrialised and urbanised nation on earth. An expanding population and growing manufacturing drove development on any available space. Yet this same period saw the origins of a movement that would lead to the preservation and creation of green open spaces across the country. Beginning in 1865, social reforming groups sought to stop the sale and development of open spaces near metropolitan centres. Over the next thirty years, new national organisations worked to protect and develop a variety of open spaces around the country. In the process, participants challenged traditional land ownership, class obligations and gender roles. There has been very little scholarship examining the work of the open space organisations; nor has there been any previous analysis of the specific membership demographics of these important groups. This thesis documents and examines the four organisations that formed the heart of the open space movement (the Commons Preservation Society, the Kyrle Society, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association and the National Trust). It demonstrates connections between philanthropy, gender and space that have not been explored previously. The Parliamentary Archives, London Metropolitan Archives, Guildhall Library Archives and the archives of the National Trust provided a wealth of material, including minutes, publications, newspaper cuttings and personal letters. My thesis focuses particularly on the many women activists who contributed to the achievements and philosophy of the open space movement. Unusually, women undertook significant public roles in the movement. Their participation engendered personal, professional and political advancement for their sex. My analysis illuminates the numerous motivations behind Victorian philanthropy and expands the picture of Victorian society. Further, it analyses the variety of motivations that prompted the movement’s ethos, as well as exploring the range of language used by supporters in their descriptions of the ‘natural’ world. This research highlights a significant, gendered turning point in the appreciation of conservation, preservation and the importance of open spaces in England. Show more