“We all need space; unless we have it we cannot reach that sense of quiet in which whispers of better things come to us.”

— Octavia Hill

Octavia Hill was a remarkable woman and has to be one of my heroines. She was born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire in 1838 but later moved with her mother and sisters to London. She found her vocation in social housing and, with the support of John Ruskin, established a portfolio of housing schemes which by the mid-1870s had some 3,000 tenants. However, indiscriminate charity was not part of Octavia’s ethos. Instead, she maintained personal contact with tenants and strongly believed in self reliance and that the poor had to be helped to help themselves. She even ensured that investors in her schemes received a 5% return.

Octavia was a great advocate of the connection between cultural philanthropy and social reform. She became convinced that everyone deserved equal cultural and aesthetic opportunities regardless of their wealth. One conviction was the need of the urban poor to access open space:

“…a few acres where the hill top enables the Londoner to rise above the smoke, to feel a refreshing air for a little time and to see the sun setting in coloured glory which abounds so in the Earth God made.”

She campaigned to open up graveyards and to save Parliament Hill from developers so that London’s green spaces could ‘be kept for the enjoyment, refreshment, and rest of those who have no country house’.

Then, in the 1890’s, building on an idea put forward by Ruskin, she collaborated with Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley and Robert Hunter (of the Commons Preservation Society) to establish The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest and Natural Beauty. The Trust was given statutory powers under the National Trust Act 1907.

Octavia continued to believe that the urban poor had a right to ‘pure earth, clean air and blue sky’. She advocated the creation of networks of paths between protected open spaces in and around London and is also credited with the concept of the Green Belt as a protective circle around the city.

For her own health, Octavia sought to escape the urbanisation of London. She was fond of Crockham Hill in Kent not far from the border with Surrey and had a house built, which she named Larksfield, just outside the village. She (and her sister) bequeathed several acres of land in the locality to the National Trust, including Toys Hill, Ide Hill and Mariners Hill, all with magnificent views.

This is a part of southern England that is also close to my own heart. It is where I spend my childhood and went to school. We lived in a house only a few hundred yards from Larksfield and with far reaching views across the Weald of Kent and Sussex. My playgrounds were the wooded hills where Octavia would have walked and where I too could embrace the ‘pure earth, clean air and blue sky’.

Octavia Hill died in 1912. Her final resting place is the Holy Trinity Church in Crockham Hill, where she chose to be buried here in preference to Westminster Abbey. In addition to her grave under the yew tree near the church steps (pictured), inside the church set next to the altar is a recumbent marble effigy of Octavia Hill. There is also a lovely memorial window commemorating her legacy (pictured above). The churchyard is a beautiful peaceful place where my close family also rest. It is always open for all to enjoy.

Adjacent to the church is the small village primary school. It is here that I first learnt about Octavia’s work and to understand and appreciate the wonders of our open space and countryside. When I look back and contemplate my passion for the outdoors, and my career choices combining town planning and environmental management, I am sure that Octavia must have been some small influence!

The school, established just over 150 years ago, is thriving and I like to think that the life and work of Octavia Hill is still having an impact on generations of young people today!