48 H AMP STEAD HEATH. 



Thomas, appears to have been advised that he was 

 practically owner in fee of the Common. He denied 

 that there were any Freehold tenants of the Manor. 

 Of the numerous body of Copyholders of the Manor, 

 he maintained that not more than three or four had 

 any rights of common over the Heath. He claimed 

 the right to inclose it without stint, under the Statute 

 of Merton, and without regard to what he called the 

 pretended rights of Commoners. He also asserted his 

 unlimited right to dig and carry away sand from the 

 Heath, to the extent of destroying its herbage and 

 heather. This digging for sand was, in fact, being 

 carried out to an extent that threatened to interfere 

 with the natural features of Hampstead Hill. Dan- 

 gerous pits appeared in all directions, and the surface 

 of the Heath was injured to a degree that it has not 

 yet recovered, after twenty-five years of cessation of 

 digging. Sir Thomas was not only Lord of the Manor, 

 but was also owner of a considerable demesne in the 

 neighbourhood of the Common, 2G0 acres in extent. 

 He was, however, only the tenant for life of this pro- 

 perty, and as he had no son, he could not obtain the 

 legal concurrence of the next in the settlement, that 

 was then necessary to enable him to grant building 

 leases, and to avail himself of the great demand which 

 was growing up for houses near the Heath. 



In 1829, he made application to Parliament, in a 

 private Bill, for powers to grant building leases, not 

 merely in respect of his demesne lands, but over all 

 the lands mentioned in the Schedule, including " such 



