advised that they should set up a land company with the aim of protecting "the public interests in the open spaces of the country". Octavia Hill proposed that this company be called "the Commons and Gardens Trust", but it was Hunter's suggestion, the "National Trust", that was adopted. Unfortunately, the Trust took ten years to reach the point where it could be properly constituted, by which time the opportunity to take ownership of Sayes Court had passed. In 1886 some still remained of the estate and of these W.J. Evelyn dedicated an acre and a half in perpetuity to the public. Until then the only other piece of land that had ever been given to the London public was Leicester Square. In this acre and a half the Kyrle Society laid out a park, a playground and a bandstand. A permanent provision was made for the Evelyn estate to cover the expense of maintenance and caretaking. It was opened on 20 July 1886 by Baroness Burdett-Coutts. In his history The National Trust: The First Hundred Years, Merlin Waterson writes "It would be hard to conceive of a property which encompassed so many of the future purposes of the National Trust. The garden was of exceptional importance, the historical associations fascinating, and it was a valuable open space in the heart of London Docks." World War I and between the wars The War Department hired Sayes Court, from the City of London Corporation from 19 September 1914 to use as a Horse Transport Reserve Depot at a rental of £90 per annum () to enlarge its Supply Reserve Depot at the adjacent former Foreign Cattle Market. The fee simple of the Foreign Cattle Market and of the Sayes Court property were purchased by the War Department, for £400,500 () under deeds dated 25 March 1926, 18 March 1927 & 25 July 1927 including the railway, tramway, wharfage and jetty rights and easements. By 1938 the almshouses had become the headquarters, while the former model house now served as the Officers Mess. Tramways (18" gauge with track weighing 35 lbs. per yard) had been laid and some areas of the Victorian park remained intact within the depot. World War II During World War II, on 16 August 1944, the Victorian Terrace existing along the Grove Street side of Sayes Court was destroyed by a V-1 flying bomb. Second half of the 20th