Today best remembered as one of the three original founders of the National Trust, Octavia Hill was a pioneering social reformer whose work saw education and housing conditions improved for London’s poor, saved Hampstead Heath from the bulldozers, and went towards setting out legislation for public access to green spaces.

In this short essay, Hill sets out a clear, concise argument for public access to parks, and argues for the rights we now take for granted. Our Common Land is a forgotten part of our cultural history, and demonstrates exactly why the founders of the National Trust thought it was so important to preserve ancient buildings and estates for the public.