Purple Hairstreaks and Protests
On the history of One Tree Hill and meeting some of its current residents
Two minutes goes by surprisingly quickly when you’re standing staring up into the canopy of oak trees searching for butterflies. It’s a warm, still evening, the kind of weather that Purple Hairstreak butterflies like but I haven’t spotted any by the time my phone beeps to tell me the allotted time is up at the first viewpoint. I move on further into the trees on One Tree Hill and away from the traffic on Honor Oak Road. At the next viewpoint my two minutes of staring into the upper branches of the oak trees, scanning for any sign of movement, is rewarded by the sighting of a single butterfly which must be a Purple Hairstreak. It is gone too quickly for me to get a view of it through the binoculars, but it is unlikely to be any other butterfly so high in the canopy especially at this time in the evening.
This area was once part of the Great North Wood but it is a long time since One Tree Hill’s name was an accurate description of this wooded hilltop, longer still since the woodland here was cleared for grazing, leaving only the single oak tree on its summit for which the hill is named. That lone tree was saved because it was the Oak of Honor, the tree under which Queen Elizabeth I rested when she rode past on a visit to Lewisham many centuries before. In fact, it is likely that it was a different tree by then, for the title was passed on when the original tree died. In time this tree also provided the name for the surrounding area and for the station which is only a few minutes’ walk from the foot of the hill.
A royal visit long ago is only one part of the area’s interesting history. There is also a more important story which illustrates why people should defend the places they love and shows how the trees will return if we let them. In the nineteenth century, after sheep replaced the trees that had covered the hill for centuries, local people still came here as they had done for as long as anyone could remember. Some simply passed over the hill as they walked between villages, others came specially to admire the view of St Paul’s Cathedral. Then suddenly in 1896, a six-foot fence was erected and an area of land including the hill was enclosed to form a private golf course. There was a huge public outcry, and an official protest committee was set up, but after a year of numerous meetings and no progress, some local people decided to take matters into their own hands.
Over a series of Sundays in October 1897, crowds of up to 100,000 people gathered around the hill. Some no doubt came to spectate, others were tempted by the free beer provided by a local brewer (or so rumour has it) and a few were probably there to pick pockets, but many were there to protest. On one occasion a group of these protesters demolished sections of the fence, walked to the top of the hill and sang ‘Rule Britannia’ before dispersing quietly. However, it seems there was no appetite for a prolonged protest and the direct action soon fizzled out. Meanwhile, the committee continued the long process of securing access to the hill by legal means. This process eventually resulted in the compulsory purchase of One Tree Hill by the recently formed Camberwell Borough Council in 1902. But it wasn’t until 1905, more than eight years after the enclosure, that the land was opened as a park and the public could finally access the hill again.  Â
One Tree Hill is no longer the open park its Edwardian saviours envisaged. Much of the hill is now covered in trees which have grown up since it ceased to be managed as parkland after local priorities changed during the twentieth century. Neglect proved to be benign. The site has been designated a Local Nature Reserve, and in recent decades it has been managed to provide a variety of habitats.
A group of us started a butterfly transect here in 2018 so we could assess the impact of the conservation work we’ve been undertaking alongside other volunteers from the local Friends group and the London Wildlife Trust. But Purple Hairstreaks generally only fly at dusk and are often under-reported on regular transects which take place during the middle of the day when most butterflies are active. So last year we started an additional evening survey which includes timed counts at a number of viewpoints on the summer weeks when Purple Hairstreaks are most likely to be seen. I haven’t had much luck on my previous visits for this survey, but this evening I spot one or two butterflies at most of the viewpoints on the route – eight in total.
The final viewpoint is at the summit of the hill where the remains of a First World War gun emplacement form a kind of platform that is sometimes used for performances and gatherings of various kinds. When I was here at a similar time last year, I met a man who had dragged a very heavy looking bag of large sticks and other objects up to the top of the hill and on to the platform. When we got chatting it turned out he was there to organise a celebration for Lughnasadh, a Pagan harvest festival. Today there is just me and a couple of dog walkers chatting in the evening sunshine. I pause for a moment to take in the view of St Paul’s, which is still visible though slightly less distinctive now that it is surrounded by other much taller buildings. As I turn to leave, I remember to say a silent thank you to the Edwardian campaigners who saved a place which now means so much for both wildlife and people.
The information about the history of One Tree Hill is from The Story of the One Tree Hill Agitation, with a Short Sketch of the History of Honor Oak Hill by John Nisbet.
To finish….
…a few things I’d like to share:
The Green Chain Walk: This signposted walking route links over 300 open spaces and woodlands in South East London including One Tree Hill which is on the section between Nunhead and Crystal Palace. The Hill also features as part of the Brockley Three Peaks route which includes Hilly Fields (my local park) and Blythe Hill too. It’s not quite as famous as the Yorkshire equivalent but being a lot closer to home, it’s a route we walked several times during lockdown.
The Friends of One Tree Hill: This small but dedicated Friends’ group helps care for One Tree Hill, and runs occasional conservation volunteering sessions and other events there.
Bringing beavers back to London: After an absence of 400 years, beavers are breeding again in urban London, following their successful reintroduction as part of The Ealing Beaver Project. At least two babies were born this Spring and have now been seen around the reintroduction site in West London. Beavers are a hugely important species as they help to shape the environment in ways which provide numerous benefits for many other species including humans. For more on the value of beavers, I recommend this excellent post by Thomas Winward.
One Tree Hill was a playground for me and my two older brothers, as we lived nearby in Athenlay Road. My brothers were born in 1937 and 1939, followed by me in 1941, and with our childhood friends we had great fun on the hill with our bows and arrows, playing at Robin Hood and his Merry Men. I'm those days there was a hollow oak tree close to one of the entrances on Brenchley Gardens, which we were able to stand inside. Sadly that tree was cut down some years later. I'm always sceptical about a visit to the hill by Queen Elizabeth I, as in the days when there were very few good roads, why would she have been riding over what is quite a steep hill, to reach Lewisham. I much prefer the suggestion that trees, such as oak trees, which live a long time, were used as boundary markers. An oak tree at the top of the hill is said to have marked the Southern boundary of the Norman Honour of Gloucester. Not so romantic, I guess.
A lovely read Ruth. The protests over the proposed gold course remind me of the outcry earlier this year over the Addington golf club's proposals for Shirley Heath. Glad we didn't have to organise a massive protest this time. But free beer would've been nice.