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In the late 19th century, a group of blacksmiths known as the "hammermen" were excommunicated from Blackheath. The exact date is not known but it is thought to have occurred in 1871. This coincided with the Act of Parliament of that year declaring the Heath to be an open public space. Strangely, the Act also stipulated that from that day forward trees were only allowed to be planted on the borders of the Heath and not on the plains themselves. Unconfirmed hearsay suggests that the reason for the excommunication, and ultimately the need for the Act itself, related to the "vigorous, persistent and clandestine homosexual encounters upon the Heath by men of industry". However, it has also supposedly been mooted that the excommunication related to the improvement of the social profile of the area sought by various landed gentry. Regardless, in current vernacular, the youth of the area are frequently heard referring to sexually successful homosexuals as "hammermen" (not to be confused with the heterosexual equivalent i.e. a "swordsman").

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