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CHAPTER V. 



Berkhamsted Common. 



The next case of Inclosure which came under the 

 notice of the Commons Society one of the most 

 important, not merely as regards the interests of the 

 public, but even more so in respect of the legal issues 

 involved was that of Berkhamsted. This Common, 

 with an area of about 1,150 acres, is one of the finest 

 tracts of open land in the South of England. It is 

 distant from London about twenty-five miles, and is 

 very accessible by railway. The town of Berkhamsted, 

 of about 7,000 inhabitants, lies immediately to the south 

 of it. The Common stretches thence to the north and 

 west along an elevated ridge, for nearly three miles in 

 length, by half a mile or a mile in breadth. Its green 

 turf is interspersed with gorse, bracken, and furze 

 bashes, and there are many clumps of fine beech-trees. 

 It is, in fact, a natural park of great beauty. It is 

 bounded on the east by the splendid domain of 

 Ashridge, with its Deer Park, eight hundred acres in 

 extent, the property of Lord Brownlow. 



In very early times Berkhamsted Manor, with its 

 Castle, its demesne lands, and Common, the latter 

 originally consisting of 1,450 acres, was the property 

 of the Crown. Edward the Third, in 1346, granted 

 his interest in it to his son, Edward the Black Prince, 



