By Stephen Ayers
A haystack in Lammas Meadow at Walthamstow Marshes in July 2013. Credit: Community Haystacks and Kathrin Bohm. From ancient times until the early 20th Century, local people had traditional rights to farm most of the open expanse of fertile peaty marshland bordering the River Lea. In spring and the first half of summer, the marshes were farmed as hay or corn meadows by local residents, rich or poor, for themselves or for others, in severalty (separation). The marshland was periodically allocated in strips to tenants either by rotation, or by the drawing of lots, and enclosed by temporary fencing, to stop stray livestock from eating the crop.