ORIGIN OF COMMONS. 3 



recreation. They are reservoirs of fresh air and health, 

 whence fresh breezes blow into the adjoining town. 

 They bring home to the poorest something of the sense 

 and beauty of nature. 



London has been exceptionally fortunate in this 

 respect. Within fifteen miles of its centre there are no 

 fewer than seventy-four such Commons, averaging 160 

 acres, and 120 smaller spaces, averaging 10 acres mak- 

 ing, with Epping Forest, a total of about 19,000 acres. 

 Some of these, such as Hampstead Heath, Blackheath, 

 Clapham Common, and the Hackney Commons, are 

 bordered by a dense population. Others at a greater dis- 

 tance form almost a zone of open spaces, to which the 

 suburban population is quickly tending. Thus to the 

 West of London we find Wimbledon, Wandsworth, 

 Barnes, Tooting, and Ham Commons, which, together 

 with the Royal parks of Richmond, Bushey, Hampton, 

 and Kew Gardens, make an almost continuous range of 

 open land, which can never be built on. On the South 

 are Mitcham, Streatham, Chislehurst, Hayes, Plumstead, 

 and Bostall Commons, and the wide ranges of open 

 land on the Surrey Downs, such as Epsom, Banstead, 

 and Coulsdon Commons. To the East of London there 

 is the great area of Epping Forest, of 0,000 acres, of 

 which one-half has been rescued in recent years from 

 those who had already inclosed and fenced it. The 

 North of London is not so adequately provided with 

 open spaces, and beyond Hampstead there is little but 

 Stanmore and Tottenham Commons till we come to 

 the Hertfordshire Commons, such as Berkhamsted, 

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