126 ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER. 



and right use of these Charity Lands and of the income 

 derived therefrom. One of the privileges of a Parish Council 

 was that of inspecting the Parish Chest which was kept by 

 the incumbent. This was done, for instance, at Barford, 

 on the instigation of the labourer, William Ivens, with 

 excellent results. But at Angmering, a large Sussex vilbge 

 close to Worthing, an act of vandalism was performed, not 

 by " the people, "but by the middle and upper classes who 

 monopolised the Parish Council. Fearing, apparently, that 

 the contents of the Parish Chest would disclose unpleasant 

 facts concerning the distribution of land dating from the 

 last Enclosure, the most influential member of the Parish 

 Council proposed that the contents of the Parish Chest 

 should be burned ! A subservient chairman supported 

 the proposition, and the contents of the solid oak chest, 

 with its three massive locks and the ancient records, quaint 

 documents of priceless value to the parish, were ruthlessly 

 destroyed. 



There were Parish Councils, however, which managed to 

 recover some of the " lost " land through examining the 

 Enclosure Awards, Tithe Awards, and list of charities. A 

 useful quarry at Askern (West Riding of Yorkshire), which 

 had been awarded to the parish years ago and quietly 

 usurped by a landowner, is an instance of recovered property. 

 A Derbyshire Parish Council at Shirland compelled a land- 

 owner to give up a strip of land by the highroad which he 

 had annexed. In Berkshire, the Hurley Parish Council 

 discovered the lord of the manor had been allowing people 

 to enclose bits of common land on condition they paid 

 him a small quit rent. This was stopped. At Long Preston 

 (West Riding of Yorkshire) the lord of the manor trans- 

 ferred the village greens to the Parish Council free of charge, 

 and at Thundersley, Essex, the same was done with regard 

 to a large common. 



The Parish Council of St. Bride's Major (Glamorgan) 

 successfully fought the Earl of Dunraver, who had tried 

 to make a big encroachment. 



Parishes with a population of less than 300 which had 

 to be content with an annual Parish Meeting instead of a 



