As the nineteenth century progressed increasing numbers of people in Britain began to seek to preserve public rights of way and access to common land in the face of increasing development and enclosure. In 1899, the Commons Preservation Society and National Footpaths Society merged to from the Commons and Footpaths Preservation Society (now the Open Spaces Society). It is the oldest conservation society in the United Kingdom and was among those to campaign for the creation of the National Trust.

This history of the movement was written by the Society’s president Lord Eversley